Sins of the Father
by Gilari
Summary: When the Doctor, Rose, and Jonathan run into some trouble while visiting an old friend and Jonathan disappears, the Doctor has to come to terms with the fact that he may not be able to get his son back. Companion to "Not Alone"
1. Family

"_All systems appear to be back online. But we're pretty low on fuel. I guess that trip through the universe-hole took more out of the TARDIS than she is willing to admit. I think we have fuel enough for one more trip."_

_The Doctor turned to face Rose, a manic smile spread all over his face._

"_Rose, fancy a trip to Cardiff?"_

Jonathan Gallifrey Tyler had always known he was different. He had excepted it as a matter of fact in his young life that he was not like anyone else. For one thing, he had come to the realization that he was not in fact fully human. This insight, which would have been startling if it had occurred to any other little boy, did not bother Jonathan too much. He knew that not all aliens were bad, and that his father had been an alien, and that the fact had not much bothered his Mum. As long as his Mum loved him, it didn't really matter that he had two hearts.

His father had seemed like a remote icon to him, an amazing figure of his mother's stories, saving the world and looking rather like Superman in his imagination. Superman with either a black leather jacket or a brown suit. Mum said he wore both, at different times. There had always been an undercurrent of sadness in Mum's tone when she talked about Dad, and Jonathan could tell that she missed him very much. When he was very young, Jonathan could not understand why she was so sad, but gradually he had come to the knowledge that sometimes she was sad when she looked at him because he reminded her of Dad. Jimmy Baker at school had said that Dad was gone because he didn't want Mum or him any more, but Mum said it wasn't true. She said Dad loved them, and wanted to get back to them, but couldn't.

But then he had. He suddenly appeared, and Mum was suddenly really, really happy. Happier than she had ever been before. Jonathan smiled at this. He loved when Mum was happy. They were with Dad now, in his blue box. His blue box that was a _lot_ bigger on the inside than the outside, that had millions of rooms and one that was his. They were traveling with Dad now to another universe. Jonathan was more curious to see how the box flew than to think about how it was jumping universes. Dad was like Superman- he could do anything.

Jonathan sat on the floor of the TARDIS control room, humming tunelessly to himself as he screwed a bolt in tighter with his screwdriver. He was surrounded by a mess of wires and spare parts that Dad had given him to rummage through. Apparently the TARDIS needed fixing all the time, so there were always spare parts around. Jonathan didn't know what he was building with his box of parts, but he would know once it was made. Poking his tongue out form between his teeth in concentration, Jonathan carefully attached another wire to his creation.

That task finished, he glanced up to see if Mum was around. She was lying sprawled across the captain's seat near the consol in the middle of the room, fast asleep. Jonathan took a minute to watch her. He loved watching Mum sleep. She looked so happy. Usually, she was running all around trying to do things for work, and talking on her mobile, and fighting aliens. Her face was scrunched up with worry lines, and when she smiled it didn't reach her eyes. But when she was asleep the lines went away, and there was always a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips, as if she was dreaming of something pleasant.

Her hand was flung over the side of the chair, and hung there, unmoving. On her finger was a shining ring with a sparkling blue stone. Jonathan grinned to himself. He was very proud of that ring. He had helped Dad choose it himself when they were on Barcelona, the planet with the funny dogs.

"Will you help me find Mum a ring while she's busy getting food?" Dad had asked.

"Why?" Jonathan question, confused. "Mum doesn't like jewelry very much."

"But this is a special ring. It will tell her how much we love her,"

Jonathan had thought about this for a minute.

"The kind of ring Gramma wears that Grampa gave her when they got married?"

Dad had grinned.

"Yeah. Exactly that kind of ring. I want to ask your Mum to marry me. What do you think?"

"Will I have to wear a tie?" Jonathan asked, skeptically. "I _hate_ ties."

Dad had laughed, but Jonathan didn't see what was so funny.

"I hate them too. The only one I like is the one I'm wearing now. No, you won't have to wear anything special. We're going to surprise Mum, ok?"

Jonathan had agreed, and while Mum was busy shopping for food ("Honestly, Doctor, how do you travel the universe with _nothing_ to eat except hot chocolate and crackers?") he and Dad had canvassed the market stalls for the perfect ring. It was Jonathan who had spotted it. For some reason. Dad had only been looking at the white ones. But Jonathan knew that Mum's favorite colour was blue, so he had been looking at the blue ones. And then he found the perfect one.

It had a silver band and one single stone in the middle of deep, shimmery blue. It was the same colour blue as the sea side when he and Mum had gone to Norway two years ago. Only that wasn't such a fun holiday because Mum had cried the entire time. But the water was beautiful.

When Dad saw the ring, he didn't say anything at first, and Jonathan was worried he didn't like it.

Dad had shaken his head.

"It's perfect, Jonathan. Just perfect," he said, holding it up to the light so that it sparkled. He took out his sonic screwdriver and touched it to the band. When he pulled it away, there was twisty writing spiraling all over it.

"What's that?" Jonathan had asked.

"I wrote something there in my own language. You should be able to read it," Dad held out the ring so Jonathan could see the letters.

"F-O-R-E-V-E-R. Forever. What does that mean?" Jonathan had asked, confused.

Dad had shaken his head, a wistful expression on his face.

"Just something you Mum said to me once. Now, let's go find her!" Dad held out his hand, and Jonathan had taken it eagerly.

Mum was so surprised when Dad gave her the ring. She had cried, although Jonathan didn't see what there was to cry about. But she said she was really happy, so that's what matters. They had stood in front of a large stone, and an alien had tied a piece of red string around their hands.

"As your hands are bound, so too are your hearts," the alien had intoned. Jonathan didn't know what that meant. But after that Mum and Dad kissed, and then they had all gone out for dinner. Everyone was laughing and happy, and Jonathan thought it was the best day he had ever had.

Dad smiled all the day after, and Mum was really tired, falling asleep on things. She was asleep again in the captain's chair now, and Jonathan had been given a box of parts to play with. Dad came into the room, whistling to himself.

"Shhhhh! Mum's sleeping," Jonathan instructed.

"Oh. Sorry," Dad had said in a quieter voice. He sat down next to Jonathan on the floor. "What're you making?"

"Dunno," Jonathan shrugged. "Something I guess. I think it will turn off and on the lights, when I'm done."

"Sounds like a remote control transponder," Dad said, looking interested.

"Yeah. I think it will even turn the lights off and on in the street outside. When we get somewhere with streetlights."

"That's pretty interesting," Dad dropped his voice. "I can teach you to make sonic things. Maybe a sonic screwdriver of your own?"

"Absolutely not," came a sleepy voice from the chair. Mum had woken up.

She sat up, and her hair was all tousled.

"Doctor, what have I told you about teaching our son to make things sonic. It's bad enough with one of you in this TARDIS, never mind two people making random sonic things. Remember what happened to the sonic toaster?"

"Awww, come on, Rose," Dad complained.

"What happened to the sonic toaster?" Jonathan asked Dad.

Dad grinned.

"It burned toast."

"You mean it made toast burst into flames," Mum said. She got up from the chair, and plopped down on the other side of Jonathan. She looked at all the wires.

'Why can't you be a normal kid and play with Lego?" she asked, putting her arm around him.

Jonathan smiled.

"I left it all at home," he said. "Besides, it's not as fun as this."

Mum yawned sleepily.

"Oh, right. What was I thinking?" she asked.

Jonathan felt a sense of wellbeing spread over him. Here he was, with his Mum and his Dad, and they were together, and they were off to have adventures. Life was good.

_Author's Note: Yeah! Long awaited sequel to Not Alone! Yes, I have in fact been planning this story since Christmas, but I have had absolutely no time to write it in. As it is I should be studying for exams, but instead I chose to procrastinate, and write this. _

_This is just the beginning, and more chapters should follow soon, I promise. _


	2. Old Friends

Chapter 2

The moment Rose stepped out the TARDIS doors, she knew it was the right universe. Not that there were many obvious signs that it was different (other than the large kitted bobble hats were _not _in style here) but it just felt _right_. Rose drew a deep breath, and looked around her.

"Hey, I know where we are!" she exclaimed, "We're right near Torchwood Three!"

"Are we?" the Doctor asked, attempting to look innocent and failing spectacularly.

"I was here a couple of times when we were trying to sort out the Torchwood Two disaster in the other universe. What a mess that was. I mean, how does a whole base just vanish like that? Good thing we found it before some crisis happened," Rose looked up to find the Doctor already ten paces ahead of her, hands stuffed in his pockets, striding ahead.

"Bloody brilliant," she muttered under her breath, "doesn't change, does he?"

Behind her, Jonathan ran out of the doors, hastily stowing something in his pocket as he raced ahead of her.

Rose shook her head fondly as he caught up with his father and tried to walk beside him, taking two steps for every one of the Doctor's. Noticing this, the Doctor slowed his pace to match Jonathan's. Rose smiled as he turned to talk to the boy, although she couldn't hear what they were saying. Jonathan nodded somewhat hesitantly, and they both stopped, waiting for her to catch up.

"Noticed I was missing, did ya?" she asked as she came level with them.

"Jonathan said something about not being supposed to run ahead," the Doctor replied, slipping his hand into Rose's and giving her a mega-watt smile that left her heart pounding and her mouth dry.

"Yeah… uh…" it took Rose a few minutes to recover herself before answering, but the Doctor didn't seem to have noticed, "He had a terrible habit of getting impatient and running ahead and then getting lost. He would run so far ahead he would lose sight of me, so I told him he had to wait for me before he got too far away. Wonder where he got that from," Rose looked pointedly at the Doctor.

He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, and smiled.

"Must have been with you, my wandering companion. Honestly, first rule of companions: don't wander off. And what do you do right away? Wander away from where you were supposed to be."

"Saved your life more than once, though, didn't it?" Rose retorted.

"Also got us into a lot of trouble," the Doctor countered, but a slight tugging on the corners of his mouth gave his amusement away.

The Doctor was slowly steering them past the large buildings, and down onto the wharf.

"Where are we going?" Rose asked, but the Doctor just smiled in response, and continued walking in silence.

The approached a small door, build into the side of the walkway. Above it, Rose could spot the shoes of people walking past.

The Doctor opened the door, ushering her in. Something was suspicious about his motives, but Rose wasn't sure just yet.

The small shop was crowded and a little dusty. There were nick nacks and souvenirs on the shelves, and brochures on a table that looked as though they had never been read before. Sitting at the desk was a man in a slightly rumpled business suit, reading a book. He hastily took his feet off the desk when they walked in.

"Eh, hello," he said, his welsh accent coming out strongly. "Can I help you?"

The Doctor smiled at him.

"Hello there. Have a little problem I think you can help me with" The Doctor held up his psychic paper in front of the man's eyes.

He blinked, and for a moment stood very still. Then he reached down and pushed a button on the phone.

"He's here, just like you said he would be," the man in the suit said.

"Good. Show him in," said the voice on the phone. It sounded familiar to Rose, but she couldn't place it with a face. She shook her head ruefully. If there was such thing as inter-universal jetlag, she had it.

"Are you sure?" asked the man in the suit, skeptically, "he has people with him,"

"I'm sure," said the man on the other end of the phone, "show him in, Ianto."

"Alright," said the man in the suit, Ianto. He reached under his desk, and must have pushed a button, because one end of the flyer covered wall pushed back to reveal a stone wall behind.

"Hey, cool!" said Jonathan, starting to walk towards the passage.

"Oh, no." said Rose, "You're not coming in. You're staying right here, and waiting for us. If anything happens, you go right back to the TARDIS, alright?" she pulled her key off from around her neck, and placed it in his hand.

"I want to come," Jonathan said, giving her the sad puppy eyes.

Rose shook her head.

"Remember all the stories I used to tell you about the trouble me and your Dad got in? Well, they're all true, and if this is another one of those I don't want you involved. Wait here, yeah?"

Jonathan sighed, "I'm never going to have any fun, am I?"

"Not till you're older," Rose replied.

"He can sit in my seat, if he wants," Ianto said kindly, "and if any customers come in you can just tell them I won't be a minute,"

Jonathan plopped himself in the seat behind the desk, looking sulky.

"Nothing to fear," said the Doctor confidently, stowing his psychic paper back in his pockets, " you could have let him come,"

"Yeah right," muttered Rose, but she followed him into the passageway. The doors gave an ominous swoosh behind her as they closed.

The passage was long, and had a few turns. It was lit with the type of iridescent light that gave Rose a headache if she looked at them too long. At the end of the passage was a lift. It was small, so it was a bit of a squeeze for three adults, but they managed it. The Doctor took the opportunity while she was pressed against him to slip his arm around her waist.

"Trust me," he whispered in her ear.

Despite herself, Rose smiled.

"I trust you," she whispered back.

Behind them, the door to the lift opened, making them turn around in surprise. Rose squinted at the sudden light, her eyes being adjusted to the dimly lit corridor. Through a round entrance way was a large room filled with state of the art equipment and bright lights.

"Welcome to… the Hub," said Ianto, smiling slightly at Rose's impressed expression. The Doctor gave a low whistle.

"This place is nice. Not like mine of course, but still, nice."

There he was again, insulting other people. Rose shot him a warning look. He merely waggled his eyebrows at her, before turning around the survey the rest of the room.

Now that she was inside, Rose had a better view of it. It was cavernous. There were different levels all over the place, and little steps going up and down. On every available space there were heaps of wires and equipment. There was no doubt about it: it may look a little different from the Torchwood Hub that she remembered, but this was indeed Torchwood Three, all be it a little messier than the last time she had been there in her own universe.

"Doctor?"

A dark skinned woman rose from her desk, and came over to where they stood, a big grin spreading over her face.

"Doctor, is that you?"

"Martha Jones!" cried the Doctor, his surprise replaced by a grin of his own, "what are you doing here?"

"I might ask you the same question," she said. She walked up to the Doctor and threw her arms around him.

The Doctor enthusiastically hugged her back, and Rose felt a stab of jealousy go through her. But it didn't last long.

The Doctor broke off the hug and pulled away.

"Martha! How did you get to work at Torchwood? I thought you were going to take your exams,"

"Oh well, one thing and another," she replied, "I got a call asking for some advice about aliens, and before I knew it, they wanted me here all the time for consultation. It's nothing compared to traveling with you, but it beats working the ER."

Ah. Comprehension filled Rose. This was the companion after her. Something akin to relief flooded her at the thought that the Doctor had not been alone with his grief when he had said goodbye to her.

Several people had gathered around the little party, looking on curiously. A harsh looking man, an Asian woman, and a woman with black hair curling all around her face, and a gap-tooth smile.

"Oh, right," said Martha, noticing them, "this is the team. You already got to see Ianto Jones. That's Dr. Toshiko Sato," nodding to the Asian woman, who smiled.

The Doctor shook her hand.

"I have a feeling we've Dr. Sato. But I looked different then, so you probably wouldn't recognize me. Gone through a bit of a transformation since then, if transformation is the right word. Maybe a chrysalis. Ooh, I like that. I've gone through a chrysalis since we last met, Dr. Sato. Or maybe I should just say change. Make things simpler. Simpler is always better, eh Martha?"

Martha gave him a pained expression that made Rose suspect she had been dealing with the Doctor's rambling before. She completely ignored him.

"This is Gwen Cooper," Martha said, and the woman with the gap-tooth smile waved cheerfully, "and this is Owen Harper," the harsh man gave a jerky nod.

Martha looked at the Doctor expectantly, waiting for him to introduce his companions, but he did not get to.

"Is that you, Doctor?" came a voice from above.

For a split second, Rose thought she recognized it, but then tried to shake off the feeling. Just because it was American didn't mean it was Jack. After all, Jack was dead, wasn't he?

Before Rose could complete that train of thought, a handsome figure in a crisp white shirt and suspenders came bounding down the stairs directly in front of them.

"I thought I heard your voice, Doctor. My handy-dandy Doctor detector is never wrong. I should patent it."

Rose knew the moment Jack caught sight of her; his whole manner changed from arrogant confidence to utter shock and amazement.

"Rose?" he asked, his face a study.

The others moved aside as Jack covered the distance between them in three giant steps.

"Jack! I thought…" but Rose didn't have enough time to finish what she was saying. Before she knew what was happening, Jack was kissing her. When he broke away, she was laughing. She had forgotten how much of a voyeur Jack was.

Jack hugged her tightly, laughing as well.

"Rose Tyler, the impossible woman!" he declared. He pulled away enough so that Rose could see his face. He looked just the same as ever: handsome, young, adventurous and willing to flirt with anything that breathed.

"Hah, I can't believe it!" he repeated, hugging her again.

"Alright, alright," the Doctor grumbled.

"What's the matter, Doc? Jealous?" Jack asked, but he pulled away.

"Jack, how are you here? You were dead."

"So are you, officially, so I guess we're even," Jack shot back, but Rose could tell that he was avoiding the question.

"Excuse me, but what is going on?" demanded the harsh one, Owen.

Jack looped his arm around Rose's shoulders, and gave a blinding grin.

"Everyone, this is my friend Rose Tyler. Among other things, she just came back from the dead!"

"Stop being so melodramatic, Jack." Rose said fondly, "I was never actually dead,"

"Unlike some people we could mention," muttered the Doctor quietly. He was scowling at Jack, his hands crossed over his chest.

A computer beeped at one of the computers. Toshiko, who was smiling from ear to ear, jerked her head towards it.

"I better go find out what that is. I don't want the world to blow up or something,"

"Wouldn't be the first time," said Gwen cheerfully, walking over to the computers with her.

"Got work to do too. Nice to meet you everyone," said Owen, walking in the opposite direction towards a little flight of stairs.

"The work here never ends," said Jack, winking at Rose, who giggled obligingly.

The grinding noise of the lift behind them made everyone turn. The door of the lift opened, revealing a small figure in a blue cardigan, brandishing a screwdriver.

"You let my Mum go!" he cried, holding out is screwdriver in a gesture of challenge.

_Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and showed their support of this story. I have exams looming up, so I may not be able to get the next chapter out as fast as I had hoped, so you'll have to be satisfied with this in the time being. Enjoy! _


	3. Meeting Martha

_The door of the lift opened, revealing a small figure in a blue cardigan, brandishing a screwdriver. _

"_You let my Mum go!" he cried, holding out a screwdriver in a gesture of challenge. _

"You let her go, or I'll… I'll…"

Jack looked from Jonathan's threatening screwdriver, to Rose, then the Doctor, who was trying desperately not to smile, then back to Jonathan.

"You taking on kids now, Doc?" he asked.

"Only when they're mine," the Doctor muttered. He cocked his eyebrow at Jonathan. "What're you going to do with that, eh?" he asked.

"I'm going to protect Mum. Why aren't you helping?" Jonathan demanded.

"Did he just call you Mum?" Jack asked.

Rose, ignoring Jack's comment, broke away from him and moved towards Jonathan.

"I told you to stay put. Don't you ever listen?" she asked, hands on her hips.

Inwardly the Doctor snickered. It wasn't hard to see where Jonathan was like his mother. The boy lowered his screwdriver.

"He's not attacking you?" he asked, somewhat bewildered.

"No, no," Rose said sternly, although the corners of her mouth twitched. "This is my friend Captain Jack Harkness. You remember stories about Uncle Jack?"

"_That's _Uncle Jack?" he asked. He looked skeptically at Jack. "And he's not going to hurt you?"

"No, love," said Rose shaking her head emphatically.

"Are you sure, Mum, cos he had a hold on you and he was dragging you away…" Jonathan said, scrutinizing Jack.

"_Mum?_" Jack asked again, this time louder. "Wait, wait, this kid is _your_ kid, Rose?"

Rose sighed.

"Yes, Jack. This kid is my kid." She put her hand around his shoulder.

"But he looks an awful lot like the Doctor. Suspiciously so. Martha, is it just me, or is this guy a mini- Doctor?" Jack continued.

The Doctor sighed. There was nothing for it but to get it over with quickly.

"Martha, Jack, this is Jonathan Tyler, my son."

For a moment, there was shocked silence.

"Did I just hear that right, Doc? You have a son?"

"Yep," said the Doctor, grinning at Jonathan, who grinned back.

"Wait, wait, wait," said Martha, holding up her hand, "he's your son, and Rose is his mother…?"

"There was hanky-panky going on in the TARDIS and you guys didn't invite me along?!" Jack asked, winking at Rose.

"I told you, Jack, buy me a drink first," the Doctor replied, "besides, it wasn't like that at all,"

"And what was it like, Doctor?" Martha asked, looking annoyed.

The Doctor sighed. He knew this was going to be a tricky one. Martha had fancied him when she travelled with him, but the Doctor's heart had always been with Rose.

"Rose," he said. "This is Martha. Martha travelled with me after you… left."

Everyone held their breath to see how Rose would react to her successor. Including Martha, who watched the blond with suspicion.

But Rose's face broke out into a huge smile.

"Please to meet you!" she said, sticking out her hand.

Martha shook it hesitantly, a look of surprise on her face.

"I'm so glad he got another companion after I left. He just mopes if he's by himself you know," Rose said.

"Oy!" the Doctor objected.

"Well it's true. You need someone to keep you from being too clever for your own good sometimes. I'm glad he found someone like you. You're obviously brilliant or he wouldn't have taken you along."

A very particular look crossed Martha's dark features.

"Oh. Well, I heard a lot about you," she said.

"Really?" Rose asked, giving the Doctor a sidelong look. "I didn't hear anything about previous companions."

"Sarah Jane, mention her all the time," the Doctor protested weakly.

Jack crouched down so he was eye level with Jonathan.

"The Doctor's son, eh? Never thought I would see the day."

"Why not?" Jonathan asked, looking at Jack curiously.

"Well, your parents were kind of ignoring their feelings for each other when I travelled with them. You could cut the tension with a knife."

"Not in front of my innocent son, Jack," Rose warned.

Jack looked up at her, and winked.

"Are you really my Uncle Jack?" Jonathan asked, frowning.

Jack grinned.

"I guess I am."

"You don't look like I thought you would," Jonathan continued.

"How did you think I would look?"

"Mum said you looked like Cary Grant, and I looked him up, and you don't look anything like him."

Rose blushed.

"_Jonathan!_" she protested.

"Well that's what you said!"

Jack laughed.

"Well I _am_ rugged and handsome," he said.

Martha snorted audibly.

Jack straightened up, and grinned at the Doctor.

"So, to what do we owe the pleasure, Doctor? Is this a social visit, or does the world need saving again?"

"Just dropping in on an old friend," the Doctor glanced at Martha. "Old friends. Plus, I knew Rose would want to see you again."

"Since when did you become so obliging?" Martha joked.

"He's not, usually," Rose replied. "I'm surprised we ended up in the right century, never mind the right place."

"Oy, that was that one time," the Doctor complained.

"How bout the time you brought me home 12 months later instead of 12 hours? Or the time we went to 1876 instead of 1976? Or the time…"

"Ok, ok," the Doctor said, holding up his hand to stem the tide of objections. "My TARDIS _is_ supposed to be flown with seven people, and there's usually only me, so I think I do pretty well, you know."

"Well, there's three now," Martha said.

Rose grinned.

"You're not teaching Jonathan to fly the TARDIS until his at least ten years old."

"Wow, you really did turn into a Mommy," Jack teased.

"I've had enough practice at it," Rose replied.

"So how are you liking working for Torchwood, Martha?" the Doctor asked, turning back to his former companion.

While Martha answered, Rose scanned the room for Jonathan, who was suspiciously absent from the adults. It was one of the many talents she had picked up as a mother to make sure her hyperactive and short-attention spanned son was within her line of vision at all times when technology was involved. Otherwise, there was no telling what mischief he could get up to. It was genetic.

She caught sight of him edging towards a screen, his eyes fixed on the map readings there.

"Jonathan, don't touch anything, yeah?" she said. Her voice was quiet, but she knew he heard her.

Jonathan froze a few centimeters away from the desk, his fingers quivering in anticipation.

"Aw, Mum, how did you know?" he whined.

Rose smiled.

"I'm your mother. I know everything. Can we please stay out of trouble for just a little while? I don't know what kind of sensitive equipment is in here. I know it's boring, but it's only while your dad and I talk to Uncle Jack."

"Can you please stop calling me Uncle Jack?" Jack asked, cutting in. "It's making me feel old."

"You _are_ old," the Doctor reminded him.

"Yeah, but calling me that makes me feel old," Jack complained. "Besides, you're one to talk."

Toshiko came up quietly, her smile friendly and inviting.

"Hi," she said.

"Hello Dr. Sato," Rose answered.

"Please, call me Tosh," she answered. "Everybody else does. I was just wondering if Jonathan would like a look at the CCTV monitors. I think they're really interesting."

Jonathan's eyes lit up, and he turned with a pleading expression to Rose.

The corner's of Rose's mouth tipped up.

"That would be great, thanks Tosh. Just don't let him reprogram anything. He's been known to do that."

"Promise I won't touch anything, Mum. I'll be really good."

"And remember to be polite to Dr. Sato," Rose reminded him.

Jonathan nodded eagerly, and happily took Tosh's offered hand.

" Listen, Doctor," Jack said. "While you're here, would you mind taking a look at our Rift Manipulator? It's been acting up lately, and we don't want it to tear a hole in anything."

The Doctor caught Rose's eye, and lifted his eyebrow, as if asking if she wanted to stay longer. Rose smiled, assenting.

"I'll give it a look," the Doctor said, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Rose shook her head fondly as she watched his retreating back following Jack out of the main room.

"Nine years, and he hasn't changed a bit," she murmured.

"Nine years?" Martha asked.

Rose's smile had a bitter edge.

"Give or take a couple of months. That's how long I was trapped in the other universe."

"It was only a year and a bit here," Martha said.

"So I heard," Rose replied.

They fell silent for a moment.

"He never stopped loving you, you know," Martha said suddenly, breaking the awkward silence.

"And I never stopped loving him," Rose answered. "If it hadn't been for Jonathan, I don't know how I would have gone on." Her eyes flitted to Jonathan, who was sitting on a swivel chair, entranced by the CCTV.

"So you're the famous Rose Tyler then," Martha said.

"Famous?" Rose asked. "I'm still surprised you heard of me."

"And almost nothing else. Actually, it was more of what he _didn't_ mention. We spent the entire year avoiding the subject." Martha's dark eyes scrutinized Rose. "You're not at all like I thought you would be," she said.

Rose smiled.

"What did you think I would be?" she asked.

Martha seemed embarrassed.

"Well… stunning, I guess. And a genius, talking at a hundred miles an hour and figuring everything out right away, like he does. To hear him talk about you, you're ten foot tall and eat daleks for breakfast. But you're not. You're just…"

Martha paused, and Rose understood what she was trying to say.

"I'm just ordinary," Rose cut in.

Martha nodded.

"I don't mean to seem rude," she said shyly.

Rose smiled. She wasn't offended.

"You're right, of course. I could never figure out why he wanted to travel with me. I'm just a nobody. A shopgirl from London who didn't even pass her A-levels."

"And yet," mused Martha, "I always felt inadequate next to you. I was always lacking. 'Ok, but not as good as Rose' will be written on my bedroom door in the TARDIS."

"I'm sorry," Rose said, and meant it. "The Doctor can be a right idiot sometimes. He doesn't realize that he's being rude and hurting people's feelings. You should have seen him when I first met him – he was different then, a different regeneration. He was so blunt! But he was hurting then."

"He was so in love with you he never even looked at me. And I practically threw myself at him," Martha said, with chagrin.

Rose squashed the pang of jealousy she felt.

"It's hard not to fall in love with him, isn't it? He's so adventurous and dashing."

"And handsome," Martha added.

Rose shared in the other woman's giggle.

"You should have seen him before. Killer leather jacket, beautiful blue eyes, smile that could melt your heart," Rose's eyes grew melancholy again. "It was impossible to live without him."

"That's sort of it, isn't it?" Martha said. "It's like your life is divided into two parts: life before the Doctor, and life after it. He touches your life, and nothing's the same. Your whole world changes."

Rose nodded.

"In my case, it was literally."

Martha glanced over at Jonathan.

"He's really the Doctor's son?" she asked, hesitantly.

"Is there any doubt?" Rose laughed. "All you have to do is look at him. They're so similar. Jonathan's too smart for his own good, never thinks when he speaks, always dashing off to go save somebody, always coming up with a brilliant solution. Plus, he's got two hearts."

"He's a beautiful boy," Martha said admiringly.

Rose smiled.

"He's my salvation. Without him, I would have gone mad a long time ago."

The two former companions shared a smile.

"Do you still love the Doctor?" Rose blurted out

Martha blinked.

"Sorry," Rose said, embarrassed at her own audacity.

Martha slowly shook her head.

"I think I'm getting over it. I spent a whole year apart from him, saving the world before the timeline reverted back."

Rose nodded understandingly. Time was a fluid thing, after all.

"And I have someone else now," continued Martha, with a smile. "He's a doctor as well. A medical doctor, like me. He's sweet and funny and kind. And what's more, he loves _me_, not someone else."

Rose gently laid her hand on Martha's arm.

"Good for you," she said. "Good for you for moving on. That takes guts. I never could."

"He loved you back, though," Martha said.

"But we were stuck in separate universes, and I thought I could never get back again. I knew I would never see him again, and yet I couldn't move on. Maybe it's because every time I looked at Jonathan, I was reminded of him."

"Hey Mum," Jonathan called. "Come look at this!"

Rose gave Martha an apologetic smile.

Martha smiled back.

"Go on. I should be getting back to my work anyways. It was lovely to finally meet you, Rose Tyler."

"It was nice to meet you too, Martha," Rose said.

She headed towards Jonathan, who sat perched on a chair.

"Check this out, Mum," he said as she came to stand behind him. "Dr. Sato says all I have to do is move these cameras, and I can see what's going on in any part of Cardiff!"

"We use them to watch for Weevils and other alien disturbances," Tosh explained.

Jonathan used the control to move a camera to the left.

"Cool, huh?" he said, turning to Rose.

Rose rested her hands on his shoulders.

"Very cool," she agreed.

Jonathan grinned up at her, his smile identical to the Doctor's. He jumped off the chair, and ran to another desk not far away.

"Don't touch any of the buttons," Rose reminded him.

"I wo – Mum?"

Jonathan bent over double, pain flickering over his features.

"Jonathan, what's wrong?" Rose cried, taking an involuntary step forward towards her son.

Jonathan's image seemed to flicker in and out of view, as if it were a television that had bad reception. For a heart wrenching second, Rose was reminded of the Doctor's fuzzy image as he bade her goodbye for last time on that windswept beach.

Jonathan turned to her, his eyes large and fearful.

"Mum?" he said plaintively, confused.

And then he vanished altogether.

_Author's Note: It's been almost a whole year since I last updated. How embarrassing! I've been so busy finishing – and starting! – other stories that this one kind of got lost in the shuffle. Which is too bad, because I know where it's going, unlike some of my other stories. I'm all nostalgic writing about Jonathan and his family again, as Not Alone was the first multichap fanfic I ever wrote. Now I'm back, with so much more experience and writing savvy. I hope I can do justice to the vision of this story I have in my head! _


	4. Disappearance

"_Jonathan!_" Rose shrieked, sprinting to the spot where her son had disappeared.

"What happened?" Martha demanded, catching up.

Tosh's eyes were wide and horrified.

"I… don't know," she said. "He wasn't even touching anything. He was just standing here."

"He must have pushed a button. Transported himself somewhere. He must have…" Rose babbled.

Tosh tapped her ear.

"Jack? You and the Doctor had better get back here. Something's happened."

There was a mumbled response.

Tosh nodded.

"Oh, and Jack? Hurry."

Jack was there in a matter of moments, sauntering casually into the room with his usual self assuredness.

"What's the matter, Tosh? World about to end again?" he joked.

The Doctor trailed after him, brushing his hands off on his trousers, and grinning. The grin slid off his face when he caught sight of Rose's shocked face. He rushed over to her side.

"The last time I saw you wear an expression like that was on a beach in Norway. What's wrong, Rose?" he asked.

"It's Jonathan," Rose said. She was still in shock, her mind having trouble processing what had just happened.

The Doctor glanced around, looking for the boy.

"What about Jonathan?" he asked.

"He's gone."

"What do you mean, gone?" Jack asked sharply.

"He just… vanished," Martha said. "One minute he was standing right there, and the next he was gone."

"He flickered," Rose said. Her voice was quiet and steady, almost clinical. But her eyes betrayed her panic. "It was like he was in flux. Then he disappeared. Is it possible tat he got pulled back into Pete's Universe?"

The Doctor's forehead creased in thought.

"I don't think so," he said. "Jonathan doesn't belong there. I mean, he was born in that universe, but if it wasn't for you going there from here he wouldn't have been. He belongs here. you can't pull someone back into a universe like that without them having some anchor to it."

"Besides," added Tosh. "You can't pull someone out of the Hub. We have special shields for that."

"Whoever took Jonathan was probably far more advanced than your shields," the Doctor replied. He fished out his specs and shoved them on his nose before pulling out his sonic screwdriver. He began to use it to do a general sweep of the area with it. "Where was he standing?"

"Right here," Rose said, pointing.

The Doctor carefully scanned the spot at Rose had indicated.

"That's interesting," he muttered. "I haven't seen epsilon particles in a long time."

"Epsilon particles?" Martha asked.

"They are sort of out dated nowadays, and have only a few specific commercial uses," the Doctor said.

"Like what?" Martha said.

The Doctor's eyebrows knit together.

"Like tractor beams," the Doctor said.

------

Jonathan didn't understand. One minute he was in the Hub and the nice Dr. Sato was letting him play with the cameras and letting him touch things like Mum never would, and the next minute everything was blurry, like someone had smudged the lens of the world. He heard Mum call out for him, and then it was all gone and he was in this dark place. He was afraid. He didn't like the dark. Mum usually let him keep a night light on all night so that the dark wasn't too scary. But now there was nothing. He could see nothing. It didn't even matter if his eyes were open or closed, because there wasn't anything to see.

"Mum?" he called out experimentally.

There was no answer except the echo of his own voice.

"Mum, are you there?" he yelled louder.

"Mum… mum… mum… there… air… air…" the echoes answered back.

Panic started to rise. What if Mum couldn't hear him? He'd never been away from her, not once. He had never even stayed over at someone's house, cuz Mum was too worried he'd do something weird and not human. The thought of Mum not being near scared him more than the dark.

"Mum? Dad? Mum? Mummy? Mummy!" he shouted, but the only reply he received was the echoing back of his own voice. It bounced around and sounded louder till it was like the whole room was crowded with Jonathans. But there was only him and the noise was starting to scare him too. He wished he hadn't shouted.

Tears started to form in his eyes. He was _scared_. He wanted _Mum_. A tear trickled down his cheek, and he rubbed it off hastily, ashamed. Big boys like him didn't cry.

Jonathan walked forward, his arms outstretched. It only took two steps for his fingertips to brush the cool metal of a wall. Gratefully, he sank down with his back to that wall. It felt better to have something at his back. It felt safer. At least nothing was going to sneak up behind him now.

He sniffed hard, blinking to stop the stream of tears. Only babies cried, and he didn't want to be a baby. Everything was going to be ok. Dad would find him.

Somehow, he knew this for sure. He remembered the stories Mum had told him about all the adventures she and Dad had had together, and the impossible things they had done. Dad had got Mum out of the middle of a whole fleet of daleks; Dad would come for him too.

The thought made Jonathan feel a lot better. He hugged his knees, and rested his chin on top of them. He felt the prick of something poking into his leg.

Shuffling over a little, he fished his screwdriver out of his pocket, and hugged it to him. It seemed less scary when he held his trusty screwdriver that Mum had given him for his birthday and that Dad had promised to help make sonic, no matter how much Mum complained. Dad said that every Time Lord, no matter how old, needed a sonic screwdriver to help him get out of things.

When he got back, he would tell Mum he needed his screwdriver to be sonic.

Holding the screwdriver made him feel like Dad was close. Dad had a sonic screwdriver, after all. And if your screwdriver was sonic, you could get out of anything.

Jonathan slipped his screwdriver back in his pocket for safe keeping, and closed his eyes, resting his head on his drawn up knees.

When he opened his eyes again, the light was very bright, and there were voices all around him. He was on his feet again.

"Jonathan?" Mum's voice cut through the noise.

It felt so good to hear her again. But the light was so bright, and everything was fuzzy around the edges again.

"It's working!" said Uncle Jack's voice.

"Something's blocking me," said Dad. Jonathan squinted, and could see him bending over a computer. "I can't get a lock on him. I'm going to loose him!"

"Doctor, no!" said Mum. She sounded scared. "Jonathan? Don't worry, Jonathan. Everything's going to be ok. We're going to get you."

"Mum," Jonathan said. He held out his hand to her, to reach her, to feel the love that her touch always showed him. For a second, he thought that she took it, and he could feel his hand in hers.

Then, there was only darkness again. This time, Jonathan fell to the ground. He lay, panting in the dark, curled in on himself; trying to get his breath back; trying to make sense of everything that had happened.

Somehow, he had been pulled away from Mum and Dad and the Torchwood people. Someone had taken him away. He was stuck again, but he didn't want to cry any more.

There was one thing he was absolutely sure about: Mum and Dad were going to get him out of here.

-----

"You mean someone's snatched him up? Why would anyone want to do that?" Gwen asked, sounding more angry than scared.

"I don't know," the Doctor said, shoving his specs father up his nose. "But epsilon particles show intentionality. He wasn't just grabbed by accident."

Rose felt sick. Who would want to kidnap her precious little boy? And why? As far as anyone was concerned, he was just a normal eight year old.

The Doctor was still for a moment, and Rose knew that the wheels in his head were turning at super speed, as he tried to figure the particles out.

"Epsilon particles for tractor beams aren't used any more," he said slowly. "They are easy particles to work with, which is why they were an obvious solution. But they go both ways. Down as well as up."

"Are you saying that you can reverse the tractor beam?" Jack asked.

The Doctor sprang to the consol.

"If I may, Dr. Sato?"

Tosh moved out of the way.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," the Doctor continued. "If I can just program this to pull the epsilon particles back, we can reverse the beam. They linger for about an hour, so we shouldn't have any problems if I make the necessary recalculations. I should be able to pull Jonathan back here."

The Doctor buzzed the consol with his sonic screwdriver, then typed furiously. He then carefully unscrewed the bottom of his screwdriver, and plugged it into a USB port.

"Come on, come on, come on," he muttered to himself. Then, he sprang upright from his hunched over position. "Ahah!"

"You've got a signal," Tosh said, sounding surprised and impressed.

"Course I have," the Doctor said flippantly. He turned back to the keyboard, and began to type again. "I've just got to isolate the beam, and then reverse the polarity…"

He flipped a final switch, and stood back. For a few heartrending seconds, nothing happened. Then, a fuzzy image of the small boy appeared.

Jonathan's small, terrified face was burned into Rose's mind. He blinked in the light, confused and scared.

"Jonathan?" Rose said, stepping towards him. He wasn't totally solid, his image flickering, but getting steadier all the time.

"It's working!" Jack said exultantly.

Rose allowed herself to breathe again. But the release was short-lived.

"Something's blocking me," the Doctor growled. "I can't get a lock on him."

What? No! No, they couldn't lose him again. Rose's heart stopped with panic.

"Doctor, no! Hold on!" Rose encouraged. Jonathan was looking at her with such imploring eyes, and she wanted nothing more than to pull her son into her arms and assure him that everything was going to be alright.

"Jonathan?" she said. "Don't worry, Jonathan. Everything's going to be ok. We're going to get you."

"Mum," Jonathan said imploringly. He reached out his little hand to her, like he used to do when he crept into her bed at night after having a nightmare.

Rose held out her hand, taking his small fingers in her larger ones. For just one second, she was holding on to him.

And then he vanished again.

"Doctor?" she asked.

The Doctor was typing furiously.

"I'm trying, Rose, but something is blocking me. Looks like whoever took Jonathan just noticed that we were trying to take him back. Before I could complete the connection they cut me off."

The Doctor took a breath, and turned around to face the others.

Rose felt shattered. How were they going to get him back, her little boy.

"Rose," the Doctor said. He cleared the distance between them in two large steps, and wrapped his arms around her. "It's ok. We're going to find him."

Rose accepted his hug, holding him close and allowing him to comfort her. Then, she pulled away.

"How?" she asked.

"I don't know. But we have to," his words were intense, and his eyes sparked. "Nobody takes my son away from me."

And Rose saw it again, that hidden fury lurking behind his eyes. The Oncoming Storm was blazing, the purpose and intentionality hidden there. And she believed him.

"Uh, Doctor, there's something on the screen," Gwen said.

The moment was broken. The Doctor looked away, towards the screen.

There was a green blip, blinking faintly.

"Ahah!" said the Doctor, perking up. "Ahah."

"Ahah what?" Jack asked, folding his arms over his chest.

"That's a signal that is," the Doctor said. "The epsilon particles are leaving a trail behind them. It's very weak, but it's there."

"We can use the TARDIS to boost the signal," Rose said, the idea hitting her with a sudden force. The TARDIS could do all sorts of things. Perhaps it could lend enough power to at least see where Jonathan was.

The Doctor grinned at her.

"Good idea. I wasn't able to pull him back, but that doesn't mean the beam didn't leave a trail that the old girl can follow."

"If you get the TARDIS, we can hook her up directly to the tracking computer and boost the signal," Martha said.

"I knew there was a reason I kept you around, Martha Jones," the Doctor said, his words speeding up again. "That's exactly what I'm going to do. Rose, you stay here and monitor the signal."

He was already walking away, towards the door.

"Doctor, where are you going?" Tosh called.

"To go get my ship. She'll have enough juice by now to power this thing."

"But she can't get in here," Gwen objected. "This place is shielded."

The Doctor grinned.

"Your slightly pathetic shields are no match for my phone box. They can't stop me." the Doctor paused in the doorway and turned around. And there it was again, the Oncoming Storm in his eyes. "I'm going to find my son."

_Author's Note: I've changed the name of this story from _Requiem_, which I never really thought suited it, to _Sins of the Father_, which I think is more appropriate. _

_I know things are going a little slow right now, but things are going to speed up. The focus of the story is going to be split between Jonathan's experiences, and the Doctor and Rose trying to find him. _


	5. Ideas

Jonathan woke in the dark. He had fallen asleep holding his screwdriver so tightly that now his hands hurt. He flexed them carefully, blinking back tears at the pain the stiff muscles gave him.

For a few moments he was confused. Why was it so dark? Why couldn't he hear Mum making breakfast like he could every other morning? Where was he?

It came back to him piece by piece, like he was making a puzzle with Granddad. First the outside pieces – where he was – then the inside pieces – he was far away from Mum and Dad in a strange place – came together until he could see the whole picture they made. He was stuck here. Mum wasn't downstairs making breakfast. Mum was far away and he couldn't get to her. Jonathan was scared, but somehow inside he knew that he wasn't going to be here forever. Not with Dad out there looking for him.

Jonathan's stomach growled loudly, interrupting his thoughts. He was _hungry_. The last time he could remember eating was breakfast with Mum and Dad, when Dad had made happy face pancakes with whipped cream and strawberries and bananas, and Mum had laughed a lot. But that was a long time ago. Were they going to feed him in this place? He sat up, putting a hand on his stomach.

He carefully put his screwdriver in his pocket, so he wouldn't loose it, and then scrambled to his feet. It was still so dark he couldn't see anything. He walked with his hands in front of him until he found a wall. It felt _real_. In the dark everything else was unreal. But the wall was real. Jonathan put his palm flat against it. If there was a way out of this place, it was along a wall that he would find a door.

Jonathan felt his way along four corners, till he figured he was back where he started, but he didn't feel any joints that would show that there was a door there. Nothing. It made him so mad! He thought for sure that would work! He pounded his fist against the wall, angry.

"Hey! Anyone there?" He demanded, pounding the wall as if to show that he was serious. The only answer was the echoes, filling the room with his own voice again and again.

"Answer me!" he yelled. "Are you going to give me anything to eat?"

The echoes died down, and he was alone in the darkness again.

Then, on the far wall, something moved. He could tell because there was a crack of light that slowly grew bigger. A whole section of the wall lifted up to reveal a dimly lit corridor. Jonathan scrambled eagerly forward. No matter what happened, no matter where that corridor led, it was better than being alone in the dark.

The corridor was broad, and lit with low-level lights on the sides. As Jonathan walked, the lights slowly got brighter as his eyes adjusted, so that he didn't have to worry about squinting or his eyes hurting. The light got stronger, but he was ok with it. The passage seemed to go on for a long time. Every so often it curved. Jonathan peeked around those curves very carefully in case some one or some thing was waiting where he couldn't see it, but there was never anything.

Just when he thought maybe the passage went on forever, the wall opened just ahead of him on his left side. There were sounds coming from through the door. Happy sounds of other kids talking together. Jonathan began to walk forward at a quicker pace.

-----

The materializing of the TARDIS inside the Hub didn't take Martha by surprise. Nor Jack either. Both were prepared when the small blue box suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. Owen, however, was not so prepared. He jumped a foot in the air when the box materialized beside him.

"_What_ is that?" he demanded.

"That, my friend, is the one and only TARDIS," Jack said, smiling in spite of himself.

Owen moved away as the TARDIS began to become more solid.

"When you said 'phone box', I didn't think you actually meant _phone box_," he muttered under his breath.

"What did you think we meant?" Martha asked.

"Something cool and outer-spacy," Owen grumbled.

Martha just rolled her eyes.

The TARDIS stabilized, and the Doctor walked out, holding cables in his hand.

"Tosh, where can I hook these things up to?" he asked.

"Right over here," Tosh said, indicating under her desk. "I've been monitoring the signal, and it's getting weaker."

"Epsilon particles only last so long," the Doctor said, peering at the screen over her shoulder. "The TARDIS may give us enough signal so that we can follow them until I think of another way to track him."

Tosh nodded, then stepped out of the way so the Doctor could hook up the cables. They stretched from the open door of the TARDIS to her desk.

Gwen peered into the TARDIS door, her eyes large.

"Wow," she said softly.

Martha chuckled.

"I know, right?"

"How does it all fit in?" Gwen asked.

Martha smiled.

"Beats me. But don't ask the Doctor. You're not going to understand his explanation of it."

"But that huge room in this little box," Gwen marveled.

"There's a lot more than just that room," Martha said. "There's a whole universe in there. Who knows how many rooms the old girl's got? I lost count after about 50."

"There's a garden," Rose cut in, her voice soft. "And a solarium. And a pool. And a planetarium the Doctor calls the Map Room. And a library that reaches three floors up. And a wardrobe filled with every type of clothes from every era in time and every planet in the sky."

"Sounds amazing," Gwen said.

"It is," Rose said, a small smile creeping onto her face.

"It's like nothing you've ever seen before," Martha agreed.

The Doctor's loud interjection of "Got it!" interrupted their talk. The Doctor sprang to his feet, and leaned over the computer.

"Just let me adjust it," he said. He tapped a few keys, and the screen changed. The signal showing where Jonathan was got a lot stronger.

The Doctor gave a grin of triumph.

"Ok!" he said. "I've just bought us more time."

"How much more time?" Jack asked.

"Maybe three or four hours," the Doctor replied.

"Do you think we can find him in three or four hours?" Rose asked, looking grim.

"We'll have to," the Doctor answered, his expression mirroring hers.

------

Jonathan walked into the brightly lit room. It was filled with toys and games. In one corner was a rocking horse and a large dollhouse, with girls around it playing dolls. In another corner was a stack of pillows large enough to be used as seats, and a whole bunch of books. In the middle of the room was a long table, empty. All around were kids of various ages playing with the toys and books. If Jonathan had to guess, he'd say there were around twenty or thirty kids, and they were from ages two all the way up to big kids who looked like they were thirteen or fourteen. At the far end of the room another room opened up, where Jonathan could see beds in neat rows.

The door slid shut behind him, but he wasn't paying attention to that any more. What were all these kids doing here? Had they been taken, like him?

There was a bright light, centered around the long table. Plates and cups materialized, with food piled high. The kids dropped what they were doing, and flocked to the tables, the older kids keeping some sort of order.

Jonathan's stomach growled.

He sat down next to a girl with brown braids hanging on either side of her face, and looked dubiously at the food on the plate in front of him. It was grilled cheese.

"It's not poisoned, if that's what you're scared of," the girl beside him said. "We ate it yesterday and nobody's dead."

"Not yet," Jonathan said. He looked at the girl, curiously. She was maybe eleven or twelve, and tall. She was only a little bit taller that Jonathan himself, but he was tall for his age. She had freckles on her nose, and her braids were lopsided, like she'd done them herself. Jonathan liked the look of her.

"How long have you been here?" he asked.

"Two days, I think. It's hard to tell when daytime or nighttime is."

Jonathan nodded, and absently took a bite of his sandwich.

"I just got here… I think," he said. "I'm Jonathan."

"Emma," the girl said. They smiled at each other.

"I think you're the last to get here. The rest of is sort of came all at once," Emma continued.

"Where are we?" Jonathan asked.

A spark of fear crept into Emma's determined hazel eyes.

"I don't know," she whispered. "I want to go home."

"Me too," Jonathan said, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.

The escape plan that had been forming in Jonathan's head ever since he had found himself in the pitch darkness of the other room now expanded. He had only made it for himself, to get himself out of here. Now, as he looked around, he realized that that wasn't good enough. He had to make the plan work so that it rescued all these kids. Wherever they had been taken, he didn't want to leave any of them behind.

"It's ok," he said. "When my Dad comes to get me, I'll make sure he gets all of us."

"How do you know your Dad will come for you?" Emma asked. "He doesn't know where you are."

"I just know," Jonathan replied, with absolute confidence. "He told me."

The other kids were getting up from the table now. Jonathan was surprised to discover that he had eaten two sandwiches while he had been talking.

"What happens now?" Jonathan asked.

Emma shrugged.

"Nothing. We stay here, and play with the toys. Food comes sometimes, and when the lights dim we go to bed," she frowned, wrinkling her turned-up nose and pointing to the other room where Jonathan could see beds lined up against the walls.

"I'm not sure that means it's bed time. I didn't feel tired last night when the lights went off, and I usually feel tired at night. I think they're trying to confuse us."

"Confuse us?" Jonathan asked.

"Yeah. Make us think that we've been here longer. That's why I said I _think_ it's been two days. But it's probably been less."

Jonathan nodded.

"I was in a dark room for a long time. I don't know how long."

"All by yourself?" Emma asked, horrified.

Jonathan nodded.

"Weren't you scared?"

"No," he said bravely. "Not after I almost got back."

"Almost got back?" Emma asked, confused.

"Yeah. I think my Dad was trying to get me back the same way I got here. I was there for just a few seconds, but it was enough for him to tell me that he was coming to get me. That's how I know."

"Do you think we can try to get back the same way?" Emma asked, looking thoughtful.

Jonathan shook his head.

"I don't think it works that way," he said, a little sadly. He looked around at the other kids that were going back to their play. "How many kids are here?" he asked.

"Nearly thirty, now," Emma said. "We counted when we first got here, but every so often another one wanders in. Like you did."

Wow. That was a lot. Could he get that many kids out? Jonathan didn't know.

"And you never see anybody?" he asked, trying to get a better sense of his surroundings.

Emma shook her head.

"Never. But I think they see us."

She nodded her head towards a corner, where a small light was blinking. A camera.

Jonathan nodded. Whoever had taken them would want to make sure they were alright.

"Is there one in the other room?" he asked.

Emma shook her head.

"I didn't see one. And I looked pretty carefully when I first came."

"Good."

A spark of an idea flew into Jonathan's brain, and started forming into an idea. All of the sudden, Jonathan's brain was working overtime. It was working so fast that it hurt. He could hardly keep up with the thoughts that were flashing through his head. This happened sometimes. The best thing to do was to put his head in his hands and let it take him away.

"Think, think," he muttered to himself.

He let his head rest in his lap for a moment. Then, he lifted it.

With determination, he got up and took Emma's hand, leading her across the room to the room with all the beds. He chose a bed on the far wall, one well protected from the cameras in the main room, and sat on it. Emma sat beside him, her braids swinging as she cocked her head sideways.

"What is it?" she asked him. "Are you sick?"

"No," Jonathan said.

He reached into his pocket, and pulled out his screwdriver. Then, he searched for the light-putter-outer that he had been working on in the TARDIS. He had shoved it into his pocket when Dad had landed in Cardiff to visit Uncle Jack. It was still there, as well as a few spare parts. He placed the two in front of him on the bedspread, then looked at Emma with a slight smile.

"I have an idea," he said.

_Author's Note: I know, I know, it's been ages. School is catching up with me, and everything is coming due, not to mention exams in a few weeks. Studying is seriously cutting in on my writing time. _

_Jonathan's such a sweetie, but he's hard to write! It's hard to take my mind out of college-girl mode and into eight-year-old-boy mode. I keep having to remind myself to tone down my fancy language. Jonathan is smart, but he probably doesn't know all those big words that I do. _

_Also, has everyone seen the DW Easter special? It was great! With such an unpromising name as "Planet of the Dead" (really, RTD? Really?) I wasn't expecting much. But it turned out to be really good. I liked Christina, but I knew that she wasn't going to be a permanent companion. Only one person can be the leader in the TARDIS, and it's got to be the Doctor. Not looking forward to the time when Matt Smith takes over. I will miss David Tennent too much! Course, that's how I felt about Christopher Eccleston, so we'll see. _


	6. Newsflash

_Jonathan reached into his pocket, and pulled out his screwdriver. Then, he searched for the light-putter-outer that he had been working on in the TARDIS. He had shoved it into his pocket when Dad had landed in Cardiff to visit Uncle Jack. It was still there, as well as a few spare parts. He placed the two in front of him on the bedspread, then looked at Emma with a slight smile. _

_"I have an idea," he said. _

Emma looked at him with her head cocked to one side, as if she was thinking really hard about something. Then, she looked him straight in the eye, and smiled.

"What do you want me to do?" She asked.

It was Jonathan's turn to grin widely. He wasn't sure his plan was going to work, but it was worth trying.

"Have you ever played telephone?" he asked.

Emma nodded.

"Sure. Everybody's played telephone."

Jonathan nodded.

"We're going to play telephone. I'm going to whisper something to you, and as quietly as you can, whisper it to someone else and get them to pass it on. Ok?"

Emma nodded.

"Sounds ok," she said.

"Good," Jonathan said.

He leaned over and began to whisper instructions in her ear.

------

Rose stared rather blankly at the blinking dot on the screen that indicated where her son was. She could feel a small glimmer of hope, beating back the despair that threatened to engulf her. She had never thought she would miss anyone as much as she had missed the Doctor when she was trapped in the other universe. But right now, she would have done anything – _anything­ – _to get Jonathan back.

A hand on her shoulder alerted her to Jack's presence.

"You ok?" he asked.

Rose shook her head.

"It's getting fainter every second. And with it any hope of finding Jonathan," she turned to face Jack, her eyes stormy. "I can't lose him, Jack. I can't."

Jack put his arm around her, and drew her close.

"We're going to find a way to get him back," he said.

But Rose could spot a comforting lie when she saw one. Tight-lipped, she turned back to face the screen. The small blip on the screen was fainter now, so faint that she had to squint to see it. And then it was gone. A lump formed in her throat, making swallowing difficult.

"Hey, hey," Jack said soothingly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "If I believe in anyone, it's in the Doctor. He'll figure this out."

Rose nodded, but her eyes stayed fixed on the screen, on the place where Jonathan's beacon had been.

"Come on," Jack said, trying to distract her. "Tell me about Jonathan."

"What about him?" she asked.

"Anything. It's not every day I'm an uncle and don't even know it."

That got a small, weak smile out of Rose.

"Um… he was five pounds four ounces when he was born. The doctors thought I was having twins. Two heartbeats, you know."

Jack nodded encouragingly.

"Before he was born, I kept myself up for his sake," Rose continued, leaning her head against Jack's shoulder. "But after he was born, I just sort of gave up. Mum looked after him for the first two months, cuz I couldn't even get out of bed. The doctors called it post partum depression, but I knew it wasn't. It was cuz I had just given birth to the Doctor's son, and he wasn't there to see him. But eventually Jonathan pulled me out. He was the happiest baby. Always smiling. And he could read almost before he could speak. And boy, when he started speaking…!" Rose chuckled. "He never shut up. He is exactly the same as his father."

"He sounds like an amazing kid."

Rose nodded.

"And you?" Jack asked. "Were you ok, eventually?"

"Eventually. It got better," Rose said. "I was able to face life again. Go back to work. Act like a normal person. But I never forgot the Doctor. And I made sure Jonathan knew about his father."

"Jonathan's a lucky guy, to have a mum like you," Jack said.

Rose gave a sad smile.

"We have to find him, Jack. I don't know what I'll do without him."

They stood quietly like that for a moment, and then Rose moved away, wiping her eyes carefully to make sure her mascara didn't smudge. She took several deep breaths, then smiled shakily at Jack.

"That's better," Jack said.

"Um, you might want to come take a look at this everybody," Tosh called from another monitoring station across the platform. She had a newscast playing on the screen – a blond woman in a yellow blazer sitting behind an anchoring desk.

"This just aired a few minutes ago," Tosh said as they all gathered around her. "It popped up on our weirdness radar."

"Weirdness radar?" the Doctor asked, joining the crowd of people around Tosh's desk.

"We use a series of search parameters to scan newscasts and other media outlets," Gwen explained. "Sometimes the media picks up anomalies that our scanners miss. Owen calls it the weirdness radar." She shot Owen a glance as if she thought this extremely immature. Owen shrugged.

"What's the news, then?" Jack asked.

Tosh turned up the volume, and hit play. The newscaster began talking in a lilting accent.

"In other news this evening, all around the world there have been reports of missing children. What is baffling authorities in this case is that these children all went missing at exactly the same time – 4:55 PM Greenwitch Mean Time. Reports say that the children just disappeared, some right from under the noses of parents. Investigators are mystified by the case, and ask any citizen with news to report it to Scotland Yard immediately."

Tosh shut the newscast off, then turned to the assembled people.

"4:55…" Martha mused. "That's right about the time when Jonathan disappeared."

"Or when he started to disappear. They had a bit of trouble locking on to him," the Doctor said.

"They?" Owen asked, not quite able to contain his sarcasm. "Is there some sort of conspiracy going on, then?"

"Dr. Harper, we're in a secret underground lair where we hunt for aliens that come through a rip in space and time. I think 'conspiracy' is a valid explanation," the Doctor shot back.

"The point is…" Rose said, glaring at both Owen and the Doctor, who were scowling at each other. "That whoever took Jonathan probably also took those children."

"How many of those kids were British?" Jack asked.

Tosh checked her screen.

"Three. Four including your little boy.  
"Bring up their bios," Jack instructed.

Rose frowned.

"You keep profiles on people?"

"Only British citizens," Jack replied. He glanced over at her and caught her disapproving frown. "Don't' look at me like that. We have to keep track of people who've come in contact with aliens. And suspicious people. And people who know things they shouldn't. Essentially, we have to keep tabs on everybody. For their own safety, you know."

Rose muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'Big Brother', but Jack chose to ignore her.

Tosh pulled up three profiles.

"Charles Vitner. Emma Albury. Gordon Smith," she said.

"Can you print those out for me?" the Doctor asked, squinting at the screen.

Tosh hit the 'print' button, and a nearby printer spat out three pages.

The Doctor spread them across the table, peering at the pages through his dark rimmed specs.

"There must be a connection," he said.

"Why do you think that?" Martha asked, coming to stand beside him. "It could just be random."

The Doctor shook his head.

"I've been around the universe enough to know that there's no such thing as a coincidence. Besides that, they kidnapped the only half Time Lord in existence. That's got to mean something."

Rose leaned over his shoulder.

"You think there's a connection between these kids and Jonathan?"

The Doctor nodded.

"And the hundred or so other kids that have vanished, yes."

Rose scanned the first page.

"Charles Vitner," she read. "Age 11. Hair: blond. Eyes: Green. Lives in Essex. Parents: Mary and Fred Vitner. Attends the Ratigan Junior Academy in London."

Martha picked up one of the other sheets.

"Hey, this girl attends that school too," she said. "Emma Albury."

"Ratigan Junior Acadamy? I've never heard of it," said Rose.

The Doctor walked over to a computer, and typed the school into the search parameters. A link popped up.

" 'Ratigan Academy is the finest institution for the bright young minds of tomorrow'," the Doctor read. " 'This experimental school, and it's new junior counterpart, is taking the keenest young minds of today, and making them our future.' Keenest young minds of today?" he mused.

"It's a school for geniuses," Rose summed up.

The Doctor nodded absently.

"What's the IQ of those kids?" he asked.

Martha glanced at the sheets.

"130, 128, and 134."

Jack gave a low whistle.

"That's pretty darn high."

"Very high," the Doctor agreed.

"Do you think someone is targeting children with high IQ's?" Tosh asked.

"That's exactly what I think," the Doctor said.

Jack leaned against the table, half sitting on it as he faced the others.

"That's an interesting theory. But why would they want to do that?"

"Well, as far as Jonathan is concerned, people would want to study him," Rose said. "He's the first Human/Time Lord hybrid in existence, and his genetic make up is completely unique."

"Absolutely," the Doctor agreed. "There are any number of species who would love to get their hands on…"

"Hey guys," Jack interrupted. "What's that flashing?"

------

The kid handed Jonathan three pipe cleaners and a paper clip. Jonathan grinned. Wires!

"Thanks," he said.

The kid looked at the pile of stuff that Jonathan had in front of him. Almost all of the kids had emptied their pockets. The pile included a lot of stuff he couldn't use, like sweets and paper, but there was enough stuff there that he figured he could make his plan work.

"I have to pass it on, right?" the kid said.

Jonathan nodded.

"Yeah. But quietly. And make sure you get the message right. This isn't like real Telephone where it's ok to mess it up," Jonathan said.

The kid nodded, and disappeared.

Jonathan picked up his device, and held a piece of Lego up to it. Lego was good for everything. Best thing in the world, in his opinion. He carefully wired a connection into the plastic brick, and snapped the piece into place.

His tongue poking out in concentration, Jonathan manoevered the last piece into place. It was almost done, except for this small tappy thing. A watch battery would do the trick. He placed it on, secured it with the last of the pipe cleaner wire, and sat back. He was finished! Now all it had to do was work.

He took a deep breath, and then flipped the switch. For a second, nothing happened. Jonathan felt his stomach drop to his shoes. It didn't work!

Just as he was about to put the thing down, a small light went on. Hey, it was working. Jonathan jumped up, and gave a silent whoop of delight. It was working!

Just as quickly as he had jumped up, he sat down again, his device in his hand. He was going to have to work quickly.

_Dot dot dot. Dash dash dash. Dot dot dot. _

-------

They all turned to stare at the screen where Jonathan's signal had previously been displayed. There was a blinking light there now.

"What is _that?_" Martha asked.

The Doctor looked at it with a mix of surprise and curiosity.

"It's in a completely different sector than the one we were monitoring. And it's flashing irregularly. Flash, flashflash, flash, flash…"

Clarity came to Rose suddenly.

"It's Morse Code!"

Everyone turned to look at her.

"It's Morse Code!" Rose repeated, excited now. "Jonathan and I used to play at Morse Code to talk to each other! We would tap messages on the desk in my office!"

"You think Jonathan's trying to communicate with us?" the Doctor asked, but Rose held up her hand for silence.

"_Dot dot dot_. That's S. _Dash dash dash_. O. _Dot dot dot_. S. SOS."

"International distress signal," Gwen muttered.

Rose ignored them.

"_Dash dot dot. Dot dash. Dash dot dot_. Dad. _Dot dot dash dot. Dash dash dash. Dot dash dot dot. Dot dash dot dot. Dash dash dash. Dot dash dash_. Follow. _Dot dash dash dash_. J. Then it repeats."

"Follow?" Tosh asked.

"Of course!" The Doctor cried, a huge manic grin spreading over his face. "That's it! Jonathan, you're a genius! He's thought of a way to broadcast a signal for us to follow! Come on, Rose!" the Doctor grabbed her arm. "We're going to go find our son!"

_Author's Note: No, I haven't abandoned this story! It only feels like it. I have been having writer's block BIG TIME. I don't know what it is about this story, but I just couldn't seem to formulate ideas. But now I'm back on the ball, equipped with my lovely chapter plan and a new notebook. And I promise the next chapter won't be so long in coming. _


	7. A Rescue, of Sorts

"Do you think it worked?" Emma asked Jonathan, peering over his shoulder at the mass of wires that he held in his hand.

"I hope so," Jonathan said. He put his invention down, and swung his legs onto the bed he was sitting on, so that he was laying across it.

"What happens if it didn't work?" Emma asked.

Jonathan shrugged, trying not to look like that very thought was worrying him.

"My dad'll come for me anyways. He's really good at finding me, no matter where I am."

"But what if he doesn't come?" Emma insisted.

"He will!"

"But what if he doesn't?"

Jonathan sat up, and glared at the girl, blinking hard to keep the tears out of his eyes.

"He has to! Otherwise what's going to happen to us?"

Emma looked small and scared.

"I don't know."

"Me neither."

The two children looked at each other for a long time.

Jonathan was the first to look away.

-------

"Uh, before you go rushing off, I think we have a problem."

It was Ianto, the mild, unassuming man in a rumpled business suit.

"A problem?" Jack asked.

Ianto pointed to a nearby screen.

"Ten weevils are on the loose. And it looks like they're heading for the city centre. Jack, we can't ignore them, they'll cause havoc."

Jack nodded, looking pensive.

"Ianto, Gwen, Owen, you go after those weevils. Tosh, tech support. Martha…"

"Nuh huh," Martha cut him off. "I'm going with the Doctor."

"Owen might need your help if anyone's hurt," Jack objected.

"I did fine before she came," Owen said snarkily. "I'm sure I can handle a couple of weevils without any help, thanks Jack."

Martha shot him a withering look.

The Doctor looked at Jack.

"What about you? You coming along for the ride?" he asked.

Jack looked thoughtful, like he was weighing the options.

"Yeah," he said after a moment. Then, he grinned. "You know I couldn't pass up a chance to travel in the old girl again. Just a sec, though."

Jack bounded up a flight of stairs, and disappeared into an office. He came out only moments later with his blue coat slung over one arm, and a small, silver gun in his hand.

The Doctor frowned at it.

"Guns, Captain?"

"You can never be too careful," Jack answered. "I know you don't like them, but surely you don't object to your travelling companions carrying them?"

The Doctor's frown deepened.

"There's things that can't be solved with guns."

"There's things that can't be solved _without_ them," Jack countered.

The Doctor sighed.

"You can bring it, Jack, if it makes you feel better. But I don't expect you'll need it for anything."

"Peace of mind," Jack responded, tucking the gun into the holster at his waist before sliding his arms into the long blue coat.

"Can we hurry, please?" Rose said anxiously. "We don't know how long it'll be till the signal is discovered. I'd like to find Jonathan before anything happens to him."

"Of course," Jack said. "Team Torchwood, you have your orders. Team TARDIS – let's go!"

"You did _not_ just call us Team TARDIS," Martha grumbled as she grabbed her bag.

"I thought it was kinda catchy," Jack responded, winking as he strode past her.

The Doctor shook his head.

"There they go, blogging again," he complained.

Rose shot him a quizzical look, but there wasn't any time to explain. The Doctor had already vanished through the blue doors of the TARDIS.

Martha paused a moment to place a hand on the wooden door, feeling the familiar hum under her fingers. A smile pulled at the edges of her mouth.

"I missed you, too," she murmured, before stepping inside.

Rose raised an eyebrow, but didn't have time to ask about that either. Jack spread out his arm in a gallant bow, holding the door for her.

"After you," he said.

Rose just rolled her eyes, and stepped into the TARDIS. The Doctor was already at the consoles, pushing buttons and pulling levers.

Jack looked around him with obvious satisfaction.

"It's good to be home," he said.

"I've locked onto Jonathan's signal," the Doctor said. "Hang on to something."

The familiar _whirring_ of the TARDIS filled the room, and it shook slightly. Rose grabbed onto the railings surrounding the consol platform, and held on tight. Jack and Martha did the same, all of them knowing how the old girl could throw them around.

"Rose, push the blue button over there twice," the Doctor instructed.

Rose let go of the railing with hesitation, and lurched to the control panel, pushing what she thought was the correct button.

"What's making it so rocky?" Martha called.

"The TARDIS is having a hard time locking onto the signal. It's coming from a ship that keeps jumping antimatter streams. She doesn't like that."

"Can we get inside?" Rose asked.

The Doctor gave her a grin.

"What kind of a question is that? Course we can."

And he sounded so sure that Rose almost believed him.

----

Jonathan was sitting cross-legged in front of the door again. He knew it was the door because it was the way he came in, but it looked just like the rest of the wall. There was only a tiny crack to show that it opened.

Emma squatted down beside him.

"Ok, I give up. What are you doing now?"

Jonathan eyed the place where the door should have been.

"It's gotta open somehow."

Emma sighed.

"Does the staring help?"

"Yes," Jonathan answered, not taking his eyes off the smooth, metal surface. There had to be a way to open it. "I checked for control panels, but there weren't any. Not even any up high. I looked all around for buttons or levers or any way to get this door open from the inside, but there isn't any."

A dark haired boy came up to them.

"Emma, are you coming?" He asked, his Australian accent thick in Jonathan's ears. "We'll be getting food soon." He held out his hand, and Emma reluctantly slipped her own into it.

"Ok, forget the door," Jonathan said. "What other ways are there of getting out?" He scrambled to his feet, not liking being shorter than the Australian boy. He frowned at the way the boy was holding Emma's hand. Something about that just felt wrong.

"I'm Stephen," the boy said.

"Jonathan," Jonathan replied shortly. "We have to get out another way. What else gets into here besides people?"

"Air," suggested Emma. "Um… water. Food."

"That's right," Stephen said. "Food gets in."

"Food," Jonathan said. He turned around to contemplate the long table in the middle of the room. There were papers and crayons scattered all over it, with children bending over their drawings.

"What happens to the stuff on the table when the food comes?" he asked. He hadn't exactly been paying attention to the table since the last time he'd had to eat there. Emma had brought him some pizza while he had been working, so he hadn't had to crowd around the long table.

"It disappears," Stephen says. "And food comes. When we're done, the food and plates go, and the stuff comes back."

Jonathan could feel his mind kicking into high gear. The paper and pens that were scattered all over the surface of the table disappeared. When the food came, whatever was on the table disappeared. It got out of the room. A slow smile began to spread its way over his face.

"I've got another idea," he said.

He clambered onto the table, and sat right in the middle of it, cross legged again.

"What're you doing now?" Emma demanded.

Jonathan noted to some satisfaction that she had let go of Stephen's hand.

"I'm getting out of here," Jonathan said. "When the food appears, I'll disappear."

"And go where?" Stephen asked.

"Out," Jonathan answered, feeling a smug sense of superiority. It vanished when Emma scrambled onto the table as well.

"What're you doing?" he demanded.

"I'm coming with you," Emma said, her eyes flashing as she dared him to contradict her.

"It's too dangerous!" Jonathan argued.

"I'm not scared. Besides, I'm older than you."

Emma sat square in front of him, resolutely staring him down.

Jonathan sighed. He recognized that look from Mum. It meant that nothing and no one was going to change her mind. He reached out, and took her hand.

"This is a really bad idea," he said.

Emma smiled.

"I know."

------

The TARDIS was really rocking now. It wasn't as bad as when they had travelled between universes through the hole that Jonathan had created, but it was close. Rose clung to the console for dear life, and hoped that nothing would fly off.

"Doctor?" she called questioningly.

The Doctor had a look of concentration of his face.

"Almost got a lock on whatever the signal's broadcasting from. Like I said, she's having a hard time. Also, flying through actual space isn't good for her."

"I'm surprised we're still alive after travelling in this crazy box," Jack said with a laugh. He tapped the pole he was clinging to. "No offense, old girl, but you really aught to be resting on your laurels right now, instead of being pulled all over the galaxy." The TARDIS gave a jolt as if agreeing with Jack.

The Doctor hunched over the small view screen, which looked for all the world like a old telly monitor that he had salvaged from the 1970s. Which it might very well have been.

"We're almost there," he said, moving aside to show Martha the image on the screen. The stars were streaks in an inky blackness as they rushed by them. Ahead, there was a tiny green spot.

"What's that?" Martha asked, pointing.

The Doctor smiled grimly.

"Whatever it is, we're headed right for it. That's where the signal is coming from."

All of the sudden, the TARDIS stopped. Rose stumbled, and nearly crashed right into Jack, who extended his arms just in time to save her from an ungraceful fall into the TARDIS floor.

"Falling for me again, Miss Tyler?" Jack teased.

Rose stuck her tongue out at him, and righted herself.

"What happened?" she asked.

The Doctor straightened up.

"Nothing. We're here."

Rose peered around him at the view screen. Right in front of it, filling up the whole screen, was a greenish ship. And it seemed to be extending some sort of beam towards the TARDIS, pulling her in. A door opened ominously, ready to receive the blue box.

"Oh great," Rose mumbled.

_Author's Note: Wow, I've really been stuck on this story. Every time I sat down to write, something else would come up, or I'd find myself several hours later doing something completely different. I've just got to get through this stuff, so that I can get on to the stuff I've been looking forward to since I first thought up this story. _

_Awww, Jonathan has got himself a companion! I don't know what it is about him and his father that attracts stubborn young females. I think it might be their smiles and wild sense of adventure. I can't help thinking of Emma as Jonathan's first companion. He's just like his dad, isn't he? _

_Thank you everyone for waiting for this chapter. It's not my best, I know, but I promise that the good stuff is coming. I have lots of plans for the next couple of chapters. And hopefully you won't be expecting any of it! _


	8. Space Bugs

It wasn't the same as when they had beamed him onto the ship. Then, it had been like something was pulling at his middle, dragging him forward. This time, it seemed to Jonathan that his surroundings simply melted away. Everything was shifting and swaying, and for a moment he thought he was going to be carsick.

A light squeeze on his hand made him look up. Emma was still sitting across from him, still holding his hand. She smiled at him, and held his hand tighter. Jonathan smiled back. Ok, so maybe taking a girl along with him wasn't such a bad idea after all.

The ground stopped shifting beneath them. Jonathan looked around, curious. They were in a dimly lit room, sitting cross-legged inside an area chalked out on the metal floor. All around them were the papers and crayons that had been sitting around them on the table.

"I guess we know where the food comes from now," Emma said.

Jonathan stood up, looking around. The room was big; about the same size as the one they had been in before. The difference with this one was it had a door. Jonathan raced over to it, stopping right in front to have a good look. His stared, frowning, until he found what he was looking for. High up on the left side was a panel.

"Hey, look at this," he called over his shoulder.

When Emma didn't respond, he turned to look at her.

Emma was staring at the spot they had just got up from, at the papers and crayons scattered over it.

"What happens to them?" she asked.

"They get put back when the food comes here," Jonathan said, impatient to be out of the room.

Emma shook her head.

"No, dummy. Not the paper. The kids. The _other_ kids. If we escape, what happens to them?"

Jonathan realized what she was talking about. He gave her a reassuring smile.

"We're coming back for them. We get out first, and then find a way for them to get out too. Ok?"

"Ok," Emma said, smiling back at him. She took a step forward, and then stopped. "Wait a sec."

Dropping to her knees, Emma grabbed a stray piece of paper and a red crayon, and scribbled a few words. Jonathan, peering over her shoulder, read them.

_"We will be back for you. Emma and Jonathan." _

Jonathan nodded his approval.

"Now can we go?"

Emma cast a quick glance around.

"Yeah. Let's get out of here."

------

"What do you mean _tractor beam_?" Martha said, sounding more annoyed than anything.

The Doctor shrugged helplessly and gestured to the screen.

"They're pulling us in."

"Yes, but isn't there anything you can do to stop it?" Martha asked.

"I could turn off the screen so you can't see it," the Doctor suggested weakly. He shook his head at Martha's withering glance. "The old girl's not designed to break away from anything as crude as a tractor beam. _Nobody_ uses tractor beams any more. They're so passé."

"So we're being sucked in by some gauche aliens?" Jack asked. "We'll have to inform them of the change in fashion when we get there."

The other ship was now looming large. It was pulling the TARDIS in very fast, and they were almost at the doors.

"Brace yourselves," the Doctor warned.

Rose steeled herself against a support beam as the TARDIS was roughly bounced into one of the hangers. The video feed went dark.

A harsh banging on the TARDIS doors made everyone turn to face them.

The Doctor looked down at Rose, who had tucked herself into his side.

"Are you ready for what could be out there?" he asked her.

Rose took a deep breath.

"Are you?"

The Doctor gave her a familiar devil-may-care grin, and walked forward towards the door.

Jack checked his gun before tucking it back into its holster.

"Coming?" he asked Martha.

"Bloody pretentious Time Lords," muttered Martha, but she trailed after him.

The Doctor stopped before the doors, and took a deep breath. He reached for Rose's hand, and held it firmly, giving it a reassuring squeeze before pushing the doors open.

-----

"Just a little longer," Jonathan promised.

"Hurry up," Emma whined. "You're _heavy_."

Jonathan shifted his weight on Emma's shoulders, and set to work again with his screwdriver. He was almost finished prying the covering off the panel.

He gave a shout of triumph when it finally popped off.

"_Yesssss_!" he said.

"Good," Emma grunted. "Now press the buttons so I can let you down."

Joanthan pressed the big yellow button, and the doors slid open smoothly. Sliding off of Emma's shoulders, Jonathan grabbed her hand and dragged her through the door as quickly as he could. They slid shut behind them.

Emma leaned against the wall for a moment, recovering her strength.

"How bout next time I go on your shoulders?" she suggested.

Jonathan frowned.

"But I was the one who knew how to use the screwdriver. And besides, you're bigger than I am."

"Only cuz I'm older," Emma said, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

"Yeah. Course," Jonathan said, bewildered. What else did she think he was talking about? Girls were weird, he decided.

While Emma got her breath back, Jonathan looked up and down the hall. It curved very suddenly just ahead, so he couldn't see beyond that. It meant that he couldn't tell if someone was coming or not. He didn't like it.

Emma shoved off the wall, and came to stand beside him.

"Which way?" she asked.

Jonathan's frown deepened.

"I don't know."

Emma looked both ways down the hall.

"This way," she said, starting to walk in the opposite direction to the one that Jonathan had been thinking of taking.

"Why that way?" he asked.

"Why not?" Emma shrugged. She started to move down the hall in the direction that she had chosen. "Come on."

Jonathan sighed, and followed her. What else could he do?

At the first curve, he made her stop so he could peek around it, but there was nothing there.

"Maybe everyone's gone away, and there's only us," Emma suggested.

But Jonathan didn't think that was it. It didn't feel like the quiet of nobody home. It felt like the quiet that happened right before a thunderstorm. The air was crackling with _something_.

"Can't you feel it?" he asked.

"Feel what?" Emma asked.

"Like something's going to happen. It feels like all the hairs on my arm are standing up."

Emma examined her own arm, then rubbed it.

"No. I don't feel anything."

Jonathan shrugged. It probably had something to do with his not being completely human. He stopped, and cocked his head sideways. A faint sound could be heard ahead. It sounded like… clicking. And it was getting closer.

Jonathan grabbed Emma, and roughly pushed her into what turned out to be a supply cupboard. He cut her protests off by putting his hand over her mouth.

"Shhhh," he said.

Emma nodded her head.

Suddenly realizing how close he was standing to her, Jonathan moved away, and turned towards the door, which was still open a crack.

They both watched as several huge creatures passed by. Emma held her hand up to her mouth to stifle a shriek. They were huge bugs! With bug eyes and feelers and everything! Emma shrank away from the sight of them passing, but Jonathan watched with fascination. Space bugs. Cool.

There were four of them, walking down the corridor in some sort of formation. Emma closed her eyes and retreated farther into the cupboard, away from the sight of them. Unfortunately, she went too far, and knocked something over. Jonathan lunged further back into the small space in an attempt to hide himself, but it was too late. The space bugs had heard them. With a wrench, the door was yanked open, and Jonathan dragged into the light by a pair of pincer-like hands. He caught sight of Emma beside him before he was thrown onto the floor in front of the tallest space bug.

"What are these larvae doing out of their maturation chambers?" the space bug asked.

"We found them there, sir. Hiding," said another.

"You locked us up," Jonathan said, hotly.

"You can understand them?" Emma whispered. She was beside Jonathan on the ground, tears streaking down her face. "They're just making clicking noises."

Jonathan remembered something Mum had said about the TARDIS getting inside your mind and translating language. She said she had it even after the TARDIS had left her in another universe. He just shrugged, offering no explanation.

"You must return to your maturation chamber at once," said the tallest space bug.

"We won't go back," Jonathan glared fiercely at him.

"Scan him," instructed the tall space bug, who was clearly in charge.

One of the other bugs stepped forward, and scanned Emma, who recoiled. Jonathan tensed, ready to spring if they hurt her, but they only passed a small scanner over her.

"Maturation chamber number four," said the bug.

"Now this one," instructed the leader.

The bug with the scanner passed it over Jonathan. It made a funny beeping noise. The bug passed it over him again.

"Sergeant. There appears to be a problem."

"What is the problem?" the sergeant asked, sounding annoyed.

"This larva does not appear to be human."

The tall space bug snatched the scanner from the other bug, and brought it close to his many eyes.

"It says… Traveler," he said, in almost an awed voice. There was a rustle of uneasiness from the other space bugs. The tall bug looked very hard at Jonathan. "Bring the human larva back to her maturation chamber," he said finally. "We will take the Traveler with us."

-------

They were surrounded the moment they stepped out of the TARDIS doors. Rose recoiled from the aliens that surrounded them. They were quite possibly the ugliest aliens she had ever seen, apart from the slug people of Vornak Six that had ten armpits and were the only species to invent the aerosol deodorant before the wheel. These aliens were at least six foot tall, and very strongly resembled grasshoppers. Or maybe praying mantises. They varied from light green to greenish gray in colour, and were all tall and thin and sticklike. They had large feelers protruding from beside their compound eyes, and long claw-like hands, and were at that very moment leveling their weapons at them.

"Halt, intruders," said the largest of the giant insects. "You have intruded onto a Mabinogian Royal Hive. You will surrender your weapons and come with us."

The Doctor held up his hands innocently.

"No weapons here," he said. He leaned forward curiously. "Mabinogian, you say? I didn't know there were any hives wandering around in this part of space."

A comm crackled.

"Sergeant, report," said a sharp, dry voice.

"We have apprehended the intruders, my Queen," said the sergeant. "What would you like me to do with them?"

"Bring them to me," said the Queen.

The sergeant cut off the transmission, and signaled his troops to do as the Queen ordered. The Doctor, Rose, Martha, and Jack were unceremoniously shoved forward, down a series of dark, labyrinthine passages. Rose gave up trying to keep track of where they were going.

"Mabinogians, did you say Doctor?" Jack asked in a subdued voice. "Does that mean you know them?"

"I know _of_ them," the Doctor replied, in the same hushed tone. "They're an ancient race. They were almost extinct when I was a young Time Lord, which as you can imagine was a very long time ago. They left their planet centuries ago, and roamed around on hive ships run by queens. These lot are just drones."

"They're not going to try and eat us, are they?" Martha asked, shooting a glance at the drone nearest her.

The Doctor shook his head.

"No. They eat a sort of honey which they make from flowers they grow in huge hydroponics bays in their ships. They're pretty much self sufficient. But I thought they slowly died out years ago. I didn't think there were any Mabinogian hives left, never mind a hive so close to Earth."

Rose watched their captors with careful eyes.

"Are they usually violent?" she asked.

"Not as a race," the Doctor replied. He had taken her hand again. "But they're not appreciative of people getting too close to their hives."

Martha shivered.

"Is it just me, or are we being held captive by giant space bugs?"

Rose felt the corners of her mouth turn up.

"Yeah. Gross."

"Humans," the Doctor scoffed. "Did you ever consider that you might be as ugly to them as they are to you?"

Rose shot the Mabinogian soldiers another quick look, and couldn't suppress her shudder.

"Giant space bugs. I'm going to be having nightmares for weeks."

-----

The Mabinogian drones lead the four members of Team TARDIS down endlessly twisty corridors, until finally they came out into a open space. This seemed to be the control centre of the ship. In the middle of the room was a Mabinogian bigger than all the rest. On her head was a heavy metal crown, with a red stone hanging suspended on her high forehead. Rose supposed that that was the hive queen. All around her, drones buzzed around, filling the room with an annoying background hum.

A hum which was silenced when the Queen turned to face them.

"The intruders, my Queen," said the sergeant.

The Queen waved a pincer at him.

"You are dismissed to your duty," she said. She fixed her strange, compound eyes on the four time travelers. Rose felt uncomfortable under her gaze, and gripped the Doctor's hand harder.

"Lovely set up you've got here," the Doctor said, with his usual careful indifference. "I didn't know there were any Mabinogians left."

"Ah," said the Queen. "You are aware of us. I didn't know there were any left who were."

"Oh, you could say I've been around a bit," the Doctor replied.

"We are the last Mabinogian Hive Ship in existence," the Queen said. And she sounded rather proud of the fact. "We have travelled all over the galaxy, and have survived many things…"

"I salute your ingenuity," cut in the Doctor.

"… so imagine my ire," the Queen continued as if he had not interrupted. "When a ship of such tiny size that it can hardly been seen on our monitors begins trailing us."

"I can see how that would be annoying," said the Doctor. "But if you would just allow me to explain…"

A loud beeping cut the Doctor off.

"My Queen," said a drone. "There is an urgent message from the south wing division."

"Patch it through," instructed the Queen.

"My Queen," came a rough voice over the comm. "We have found the two missing larvae. But there is something interesting. One of them in Traveler spawn."

The Queen drew in a sharp breath.

"Traveler spawn?" she said sharply. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," the drone replied. "We have checked and rechecked our data."

The Doctor was listening very intently to the conversation.

"Did you know, Jack," he remarked. "That by the more ancient races of the galaxy, Time Lords are known as Travelers?"

"That so?" Jack said, his eyes trained on the Queen.

Rose's breath caught in her throat, and she didn't dare to breathe. Did that mean…?

"Actually," said the Doctor. "That spawn belongs to me. Sorry about that. You know spawn, always running off when you're not looking. Bit like his mother, actually." The careless note dropped from the Doctor's voice, and he became suddenly deadly serious. "I suggest you give him back to me. You don't want to know what happens if you don't."

The Queen just looked at him unblinkingly from her huge compound eyes.

"Travelers are thought extinct. To have found one is a prize indeed."

"You didn't find just _one_," the Doctor said, his eyes flashing.

The Queen's feelers shot forward, testing the air around the Doctor.

"Traveler!" she hissed. "I didn't notice at first, because it is mixed with so much human around, but you are Traveler!"

The Doctor waved a hand.

"Hello!" he said.

The Queen stared at him for a moment, and then turned away.

"It makes no different," she said finally.

"I beg to differ," the Doctor said. "It makes a very great difference. You see, that boy you're holding captive happens to be my son. And you _will _give him back to me."

"You will not give me orders," the Queen hissed. "You understand nothing of the situation at hand. We are the last of our kind."

"You don't think I know how that feels?" the Doctor asked, his eyes full of angry fire now.

"Then you understand the need to do everything – _everything_ – to protect your race. We are dying. There are too few of us now, Traveler. Unless we introduce new genetic material into the gene pool, we will dwindle to nothing."

"So you thought you'd take human children, did you?" Jack asked, his voice harsh.

"Humans are a most resilient race," the Queen sneered. "Our larvae are most important to us. With injections of DNA from the human larvae, we will be able supplement our genetic material. Their genetic make up will be added to our own, will enhance us, make us strong."

"So you thought you'd take Earth's brightest?" Martha asked, disgusted.

"It was necessary for our race," the Queen said. "In order for the genetic transfer to be successful, the subjects needed to be young. In order to pass on the best DNA possible, we selected only those of a superior mind to enhance our race."

The Doctor stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned casually against a console.

"Prepare to be assimilated, resistance is futile, yadda, yadda, yadda. I've heard it all before." He pushed off from the console, and took a step forward, addressing the Queen. "This is our last chance, and I won't ask again. Give me back the children you stole. Give me back my son. Or, suffer the consequences."

The Queen threw her insect-like head back and made a dry clicking sound that Rose supposed to be laughter.

"Goodbye, Traveler," she said. Then, she turned to the drones stranding at attention behind her. "Dispose of them."

_Author's Note: Ok, with this chapter, I am officially back on track. Back to my original plan. I got a little sidetracked once Emma came onto the scene. She wasn't even supposed to be there in the first place, so you can imagine my consternation when she demanded to stay. But now I'm back on schedule. I should have the next chapter out sooner than this one. It's already written, just needs to be typed up. _

_A bit of homage to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and to Star Trek, in this chapter. But really, it's hard to write sci fi without paying homage to those two. _


	9. Let the Little Children Come

_The Queen threw her insect-like head back and made a dry clicking sound that Rose supposed to be laughter. _

_"Goodbye, Traveler," she said. Then, she turned to the drones standing at attention behind her. "Dispose of them." _

The drones surged forward, clicking ominously as they took aim with their stick-like weapons. The form members of Team TARDIS took measured steps backwards.

"You know, Rose," the Doctor remarked in a disinterested tone, "There are several fascinating features of Mabinogian physiology that I've picked up over the years."

"Yeah?" Rose said, fervently hoping that one of those fascinating facts would save them from dying at the hands of space insects.

"Yes. You see, Rose, Mabinogian hearing is much more acute than human hearing. They are much more sensitive to high pitched sound waves."

"Like, say, sonic waves?" Martha asked.

"Exactly," the Doctor answered.

Rose felt a grin spread over her features, although her eyes never left the advancing drones. She could see where this was going.

"Distraction?" Jack asked.

The Doctor smiled unassumingly.

"Please."

Jack sprang into action, pulling out the small silver gun that the Doctor had been so averse to his bringing. With a smooth and practiced movement, Jack brought the gun up and fired. It hit the closest drone with surprising force, knocking the space bug to the ground. It went down with a shriek.

The whole room was instantly thrown into chaos. Drones charged forward while their Queen screeched orders. The Doctor, whose movements went unnoticed in the ensuing pandemonium, whipped his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and twisted the settings.

A high pitched wail filled the room, making Rose wince at its volume. She fought the urge to cover her ears. But if the noise was uncomfortable for her, it was a thousand times more so for the Mabinogians. Within seconds, every space bug in the room has fallen to its knees and was clutching its ears in agony with its pincer-like hands.

"Stop! Stop!" screamed the Queen. "Mercy!"

The Doctor's dark eyes were carefully blank.

"You had your chance," he said, "I said I wouldn't ask again."

He didn't turn off the sonic screwdriver until the last Mabinogian had keeled over onto the floor.

There was a moment of tense silence. Rose was slightly shocked at the Doctor's behavior. She had known him to harsh with his enemies, but she had never known him to be merciless.

Martha broke the silence.

"Are they dead?" she asked, hesitantly nudging one with her foot.

The darkness in the Doctor's eyes disappeared, buried once again.

"Nah," he drawled. "Just unconscious. Noises pitched at that frequency leave them passed out for several hours."

Rose glanced around the room at the giant aliens scattered all over the floor , and shuddered. Martha was still nudging one of them with her foot, looking interested. The Doctor was fiddling with his sonic screwdriver. Rose frowned.

"Where's Jack?"

Martha looked up.

"I thought he took cover after the firefight," she said.

Rose's frown deepened.

"Yeah, but why hasn't he come out yet?"

A sense of foreboding settled in Rose's chest. Her eyes swept the floor, almost afraid of what she would find. She gave a sharp intake of breath as she found it.

Jack's body lay crumpled on the floor, his limbs twisted into a distorted position. An energy blast had hit him squarely in the chest, and the burn remained, dark with blood.

Rose dropped to her knees, frantically checking for a pulse. But there wasn't any.

"Jack… he's… he's…" but she couldn't say it. Tears burned in the back of her eyes.

Martha had the strangest look on her face as she turned to the Doctor.

"You didn't tell her?"

The Doctor sighed, and ran a hand through his hair.

"There wasn't time," he said.

With tears blurring her eyes, Rose brushed the wisps of dark hair off Jack's forehead.

The Doctor knelt down beside her.

"Rose? Love? There's something you need to know about Jack."

Rose tore her eyes away from Jack's still face.

"Is now really the time?" she asked softly.

The Doctor shifted uncomfortably.

"Actually, now is the perfect time. You see, Jack is… different."

Rose was about to ask what he meant by _different_, when she already knew so many of Jack's quirks. But a sudden noise behind her made her turn.

Jack's finger twitched.

Rose jumped back, stumbling into the Doctor, who steadied her.

With a groan, Jack sat up.

"What'd I miss?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

The Doctor helped the shocked Rose to her feet, and put his arm around her.

"But… how?" she gasped. "You didn't have a pulse. You were _dead_."

Jack got to his feet and brushed himself off, grimacing at the hole in his shirt.

"Yeah, that happens to me a lot," He fixed the Doctor with a glare. "You didn't tell her?"

"I was about to before you so rudely interrupted," the Doctor grumbled.

"Well, excuse me for being dead," Jack shot back. "I can't believe you wouldn't tell her. You shouldn't scare her like that!"

"Tell me what?" Rose asked.

"I didn't mean to scare her. I was honestly just about to tell her before you decided to grace us with your presence," the Doctor said, annoyance practically dripping off his words.

"Tell me _what_?" Rose demanded, glaring at the Doctor.

The Doctor had the decency to look sheepish.

"Jack… he's… well, he's different since the last time you met him."

Rose looked Jack up and down, and he grinned at her frank appraisal.

"Like what you see, Darlin'?" he drawled.

Rose smiled, and shook her head.

"He seems the same."

"Well, when you knew him before, he was – ah – well, he was mortal. That is to say… he was just an ordinary time travelling human. Not that there's anything ordinary about time travelling humans. But Jack, you know, is from the future, and in that future it's ordinary. You see…"

"What the good Doctor is trying to say is: I can't die," Jack cut through the Doctor's ramblings.

Rose blinked.

"Come again?"

Jack smiled sympathetically.

"I can't die. Ever. Every time I do, I come back again. It's been happening for years."

"Why?" Rose asked.

Jack grinned at her.

"It's your fault, actually."

"_My_ fault?"

"Or rather, Bad Wolf's," the Doctor cut in, giving Jack a glare. "The Bad Wolf brought Jack back to life. But that kind of power wasn't meant to be contained inside a human, and you couldn't control it. It was too strong for you. Jack was brought back to life, but it was permanent."

"Forever?" Rose asked, staring at Jack in disbelief. "You'll live forever?"

The Doctor and Martha exchanged wary glances.

"As far as we know," the Doctor said evasively.

Martha gave Rose an understanding smile.

"I know, weird isn't it? Gave me a turn as well, when I first found out."

"As I remember, you were kissing me," Jack said.

Martha rolled her eyes.

"I was giving you mouth to mouth." She made a face, then drifted over to Jack's side. "You're a mess."

"Let's kill you, and see how _you_ look," Jack retorted.

The Doctor shook his head at the two bickering humans, and turned to Rose, his arm tightening on her waist.

"You alright?" he asked.

Rose shook her head to clear the cobwebs from it.

"Just when I think I'm getting used to this stuff again," she murmured. "I forgot that travelling with you is way weirder than a desk job at Torchwood."

The Doctor gently kissed her cheek.

"You're doing wonderfully," he said.

Rose smiled.

"I will be. Once we get Jonathan back."

The Doctor flashed her a trademark grin.

"We will."

He kissed the tip of her nose, and then bounded away towards a control station. He scanned the writing scrolling on the screen.

"Now then," he said, looking up. "Let's find those kids, shall we?"

He began to push seemingly random buttons, zapping the control with his sonic screwdriver when they didn't seem to be cooperating.

"Just a few more… ahah! That should do it. I've got 103 human life signs, and two Time Lord life signs."

He twisted a knob, and there was a ray of blue light that washed over the room. In its wake it left a lot of very surprised looking children. The room instantly filled with the babble of shrill voices all talking at once.

"Hey!" the Doctor yelled over the din. The children quieted, looking at him with frightened eyes. "It's alright. I'm the Doctor, and I'm here to get you home."

"Dad!!" came a yell from across the room. The kids parted to let a small boy run forward.

The Doctor extended his arms just in time to catch Jonathan as the boy barreled into him. He dropped to one knee, holding the boy tightly.

"I knew you would come for me," Jonathan said, his voice muffled in his father's shoulder. "I just knew it."

"Jonathan," Rose choked out.

"Mum!"

Jonathan let go of the Doctor and launched himself into Rose's arms.

Rose was laughing, tears spilling down her cheeks as she kissed Jonathan over and over.

"I was so scared for you," she said. "I love you. I'm never letting you out of my sight again."

Jonathan clung to her, his arms around her neck and his legs wrapped around her waist as if he was a small child.

The Doctor put his arms around them both, feeling his hearts expand with love for both of them. If felt as though they couldn't possibly contain any more love for the two people in front of them. Jonathan put one arm around his father's neck, and all three shared a hug together.

After a few moments, Jonathan pulled away, wiping tears of his own cheeks with embarrassment. Rose laughed shakily, and pulled her son into another hug. The Doctor stepped away, letting them have a moment of their own.

A tug on his sleeve made him look down.

A small girl with brown curls tumbling over her shoulders looked up at him, her big eyes full of anxiety.

"What are you going to do with us?" she asked.

The Doctor knelt down so that he was level with her.

"I'm going to send you home to your parents, of course," he replied in his gentlest tone, smiling at her.

The girl grinned back, revealing a gap where her front teeth should have been.

"Thank you," she said, putting her small arms around his neck and hugging hm. After a moment of surprise, the Doctor patted her small back, and then released her.

"You go on," he said. "I'll figure out a way to get you home."

"I know you like 'em young, but this is getting ridiculous," Jack said.

The Doctor straightened up, and watched the small girl disappear into the crowd of children.

"She just wants to go home," he said.

"Should I be worried?" Rose asked, coming up beside him, Jonathan still holding firmly to her hand. The Doctor put an arm around her, and kissed her temple.

"Maybe in a couple more years," he joked.

Rose gave him an indulgent smile.

"Now," said Jack. "What about sending all these kids home and calling it a day?"

"Right," the Doctor nodded. Reluctantly, he slid himself out of Rose's arms and made his way over to the main console. "Shouldn't be a mo'," he muttered.

To Rose's surprise, Jonathan let go of her too, and made his way to a girl in the front, who was fiddling nervously with one of her crooked pigtails.

"I guess you're going home then," he said to her.

The girl's eyes were fixed on the Doctor's back.

"He came for you. You said he would, and he did."

Jonathan nodded.

"He always comes."

The girl raised her eyes to meet his, and they were filled with tears.

"I guess this is goodbye," she said. "I'll be sent home, and you'll go back with your mum and dad. We'll never see each other again."

"Sure we will," Jonathan objected. "We can come visit you any time we want. My house is in a flying phone box."

"A flying phone box?" the girl's skepticism was evident.

Jonathan shot her an appraising look.

"We're on an alien space ship run by giant bugs. Flying phone boxes are nothing. Besides, it's a time machine too." As if that cleared everything up.

The girl giggled.

"I guess," she paused, and then looked into Jonathan's face, a slight blush creeping over her freckled cheeks. "So you'll come and visit?"

"Yeah," Jonathan promised. He smiled his widest smile at her, inherited from his father, and leaned over to brush a kiss on her cheek.

"Thanks for helping me, Emma," he said.

The girl turned bright red, and stared at the floor.

"Welcome," she whispered.

Rose fought to keep her composure as Jonathan made his way back to her.

"Friend of yours?" she asked, the corners of her lips twitching.

Jonathan gave her a look almost identical to the one the Doctor gave her when he thought she was being stupid. Before he could say anything, however, the Doctor cleared his throat. The room quieted.

"Ok, that does it. When I push this button here," he indicated the one with a flourish. "You will all return to where you came from." He paused for a moment. "Well, the nearest large, solid landmass." He amended. His face then grew sad. "And I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. But you won't remember any of this. It's better that way."

"None of it?" Jonathan's friend asked, her eyes on Jonathan.

The Doctor shook his head.

"You can't. Earth's not ready to know about aliens yet. And it wouldn't be fair to you to ask you to keep this kind of a secret. I'm sorry."

He reached over to the button.

"Ready everybody? On the count of three. One. Two."

Jonathan waved to the girl, and the girl waved back, a sad expression on her young face.

"Bye," she said.

"Bye," Jonathan echoed.

"Three."

The whole room was suddenly empty, leaving the four adults and Jonathan standing there alone. Along with the assorted insect-like Mabinogians, still unconscious on the floor.

Martha was again the first person to break the sudden silence. Such silences obviously made her uncomfortable.

"Well, _that_ was just like old times," she said.

"I'll say," Jack agreed. "Rescuing people, knocking out aliens. '_Everybody lives!_' Get's the ol' blood pumping, doesn't it?"

"You still have blood?" Rose asked curiously.

"Sure do, Darlin'," Jack said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Martha made a face.

"Jack! Ew!"

"Well she asked!" Jack defended himself.

"We'd better get going," the Doctor said, turning away from the console he had been fiddling with. "They'll be waking up soon."

"What are you going to do with them?" Jack asked, indicating the unconscious Mabinogians.

The Doctor's smile was predatory.

"I've sent their nav com on a dead-lock sealed path to the Delta Quadrant. I think there's a species there that they'd like to meet. One that shares their perspective on self- preservation at the cost of other species."

The gleam in his eye made Rose think there was more to it than that, but she didn't say anything.

The Doctor gave her an disarming smile, and walked to the door, opening it with a sweep of his arm and a flourish.

"Doctor! I didn't know you cared," Jack teased, winking as he walked through the open door.

The Doctor winked at Jack.

"Buy me dinner first."

Martha laughed, and followed Jack through the door.

Rose shook her head, smiling at Jack's easy banter, and how familiar it all seemed after so long.

"Come on," she said to Jonathan, holding out her hand to him.

Jonathan walked forward from where he had been curiously examining a nearby console, his arm outstretched to take her hand.

The next few minutes seemed to happen in slow motion for Rose. As Jonathan passed on of the space bug drones, it suddenly sat up, and pulled from its side a small, hand-held weapon. Before Rose could call out a warning, the drone had fired it.

The force of the energy blast knocked the little boy off his feet. He uttered a small noise of surprise, before collapsing onto the floor and lying very still.

Rose screamed. The world suddenly began to speed up, as if compensating for its momentary slowness. Jack pulled out his gun, and fired off two quick shots. The Maginogian drone fell back, dark green blood oozing from several wounds.

The Doctor sprinted back into the room towards Jonathan, but Rose was quicker. She frantically checked for a pulse, desperate to prove to herself that Jonathan was still alive.

Martha shoved Rose aside, starting CPR as soon as she had ascertained that Jonathan wasn't breathing. Her chest compressions didn't seem to be doing anything.

All Rose could do was watch, her eyes wide and the Martha continued to pump oxygen into Jonathan's small form, and the Doctor frantically buzzed his wound with his sonic screwdriver. Long minutes went past, and still nothing.

Everybody lives? Maybe not this time, Jack.

_Author's Note: Please don't kill me. It's all for the furtherance of the plot, remember. _

_Yeah, as you can see, I pretty much love writing Jack. He's so much fun! The last story I wrote with him in it was really dark and he was all serious. So I'm compensating here. His constant stream of flirting and innuendo makes me laugh. _


	10. Dead End

Martha's chest compressions began to slow, and she put her ear to Jonathan's chest.

``He's breathing,`` she said.

Rose sighed in relief, and felt herself sag slightly.

``But Doctor,`` Martha continued, `` We can't stay here. We need to get him back to the TARDIS.``

The Doctor gave her a short nod, then scooped Jonathan up in his arms and strode purposefully out of the door. The others scrambled to keep up with him as he manoeuvred around the twisting corridors. They all looked the same to Rose, and yet he didn't seem to hesitate as taking one route or another.

Martha, who had been hurrying alongside the Doctor, had one hand firmly on Jonathan's pulse, monitoring it as they swept down the monochrome passages. She was panting with the effort to keep up with his much longer legs, but didn't give any indication of leaving Jonathan's side. Suddenly, she drew a sharp breath.

``Doctor, he's stopped breathing again,`` she said. ``We need to get him back to the TARDIS _now_``

The Doctor took off at a dead sprint, the small boy clutched to his chest. Without even a glance at Jack, Rose began to run herself, her eyes fixed on the Doctor's brown coattails as they disappeared around corners.

Within only a few seconds, they had burst through the gray doors, and out into the large hanger where they had first been greeted by the army of Mabinogian drones. The TARDIS stood in the middle of the room, her small shape dwarfed by her cavernous surroundings.

``Rose, the door!`` the Doctor yelled.

With an extra spurt of speed, Rose raced ahead, skidding to a halt in front of the familiar blue doors. The TARDIS hummed with concern and confusion at her fear and nervousness, then with deep anxiety as she read the cause for Rose's haste. Rose ripped the key's chain off from around her neck, and jammed the key into the lock. After a few moments of fumbling, the lock clicked, and the door swung open. Rose stood aside, letting the Doctor run in.

``We need to get him to the infirmary,`` the Doctor said.

Martha shook her head.

``There's no time,`` she yelled. `` We need to get him breathing again.``

The Doctor gently laid Jonathan down on the cool metal grating of the floor. Immediately, Martha began CPR again.

_Breath, breath _

_Chest compression _

_Breath, breath._

Rose stood frozen on the ramp leading from the door to the main console. Jack gently closed the door behind them, and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders.

``Come on, Jonathan,`` she whispered. `` Come on, you can do it. Wake up.``

Martha, panting, drew away from Jonathan's body

``Doctor, I'm sorry,`` she said. "I… There's nothing more I can do."

``No!`` the Doctor snarled. He knocked her hands away, and began pumping Jonathan's chest himself.

_Breath, breath_

_Chest compression _

_Breath, breath. _

Jonathan's small chest rose and fell with the force of the Doctor's air, but it did not rise and fall on its own.

``Doctor,`` said Martha gently. `` It's over.``

``No,`` the Doctor said, as fiercely as before. But the hopelessness was showing through on his face.

Rose felt something cold and hard grip her heart, covering her with an icy numbness. Nothing around her seemed real. It couldn't be. Not her Jonathan. He was so young, just a boy. He was supposed to have a longer lifespan than most humans. At his age, death should be so far away, it seemed like forever.

Forever. Live forever.

An idea sparked in Rose's mind.

``Jack,`` she said suddenly.

Jack turned to her, sorrow etched on his handsome face.

``Jack, you can live forever. Give him some of your blood.``

Rose knew that she was grasping at straws, but it was all she had left.

``If he had some of your blood, he could heal, like you,`` she whispered.

``Oh, Rose,`` Jack said, his voice soft and full of grief. ``It doesn't work like that. I wish it did, but it doesn't.``

`` You don't know,`` Rose snapped. ``You haven't tried. Maybe it you give it a try…``

Jack shook his head.

``No, Rose.``

``You don't know. You haven't even tried. You _have to_ try!`` Rose's voice rose shrilly.

``I can't,`` he said.

`` You haven't tried. You don't _want_ to try!``

Rose lashed out, hitting any part of Jack she could reach, pounding at his chest, his arms, anything.

``_You don't know!_"

Jack's strong arms wrapped themselves around her, holding her even as she continued to pound her fists against his chest. Rose dropped her hands to her sides, let herself be pinned by Jack, collapsing against him.

``He can't be dead. He can't be. My baby,`` she moaned.

`` Shhhh…`` Jack soothed.

Rose broke away from Jack, running towards the Doctor, towards Jonathan's crumpled body.

`` Doctor, do something! He's your son!``

She dropped to her knees beside the Doctor, tugging frantically on his arm.

The Doctor had stopped his chest compressions, and was looking down at the small boy with a lost expression on his face, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

`` Doctor, no,`` Rose whispered.

His eyes rose from Jonathan's face to hers finally, and his eyes were glassy with unshed tears.

``I'm so sorry, Rose,`` he whispered. `` I couldn't stop it. ``

``No,`` Rose said, refusing to believe it, even from the Doctor. ``No.``

She reached for Jonathan's wrist, felt frantically for a pulse. But there was none.

Jonathan was dead.

_Author's Note: *hides under the desk* Don't kill me! _

_Sorry this chapter is so short. It was either meant to be the ending of the last chapter, or the beginning of the next one, but I really felt like it needed a chapter of its own. What can I say? I'm a sucker for sucker-punch endings. . _

_Kudos to NiomieTrekkie, who got all the Star Trek references the last couple of chapters!_


	11. Entrances and Exits

Sobs tore at Rose; hot, scalding sobs that ripped at her chest and made it hard to breathe. This couldn't be happening. Not to her. Not to Jonathan. Her little smiling baby who had brought so much joy into her life was gone. It felt as though a hole had been ripped in her chest.

"Jonathan. Jonathan."

It came out as a sort of moan. She repeated it over and over, as if by saying it enough times, she could bring him back.

The Doctor crushed her to his side, his tears mingling with hers. Rose could feel his chest heaving with the force of his sobs. He was sharing in her pain, lessening it for her as much as he could.

It didn't seem real, somehow. It felt as though this were a horrible dream that she would soon wake up with, to find Jonathan sleeping peacefully in the other room.

But it was real. And Jonathan was gone.

They wept for their lost child.

-----

Martha shrunk away from the outpouring of grief. It was so raw, so personal. She had no right to intrude by being there. As a doctor, she had had patients die on her before, and had been surrounded by their grieving families. But never had it been so personal to her, never had it gone straight to her heart like it did this time. The little boy had been so sweet, so cheerfully happy, so very like the Doctor in miniature. Martha felt her heart ache for him, and for Rose. The Doctor and Rose were grieving for their son; Martha and Jack were outsiders to that pain.

With tears in her eyes, Martha drew back, to where Jack was standing on the outside rim of the control room.

"Come here," Jack said softly, drawing Martha into his arms.

Martha relaxed against his friendly embrace, glad of his support as the tears trickled down her cheeks. Jack blinked hard, and sniffled.

"Boy, is this a sob-fest or what?" a loud voice asked, breaking the wretched hush over the room.

Martha whirled around, Jack close behind her as he felt for his gun.

A tall, lanky teenager with brown hair flopping into his eyes was leaning against the door to the kitchen. He glanced lazily at Jack's gun, and grinned.

"Chill, please," he said, taking a bite of the apple he held in his hand.

"Who are you?" Jack said harshly. "And what are you doing here? How did you get in?"

The kid took another bite of his apple, and pushed himself off from the wall in an oddly familiar gesture.

"It doesn't matter who I am," he said.

"This is a sentient time ship. How did the TARDIS let you in here?" Martha demanded. She felt an irrational anger towards the teenager's nonchalance. There was no time for flippancy!

"Why are you here, then?" Jack asked again.

The kid shrugged.

"Why are any of us here?" he asked vaguely.

"That doesn't answer my question," Jack growled. "Why are you _here_?"

The lanky kid jerked his head towards the grief-stricken couple huddled beside the body of their son.

"I'm here for them."

He began to walk towards the heartbreaking tableau in the middle of the control room. The Doctor, who until this point had been completely wrapped in his own misery, seemed to notice the unfamiliar presence in his ship. He looked up, surprise and anger chasing themselves over his face.

"Who are you?" he asked in a voice as hard as iron.

The kid didn't say anything, just dropped to his knees in front of Jonathan's body.

"Sorry about this, little guy," he said. "This is going to hurt like the devil, but you'll thank me in the end." He pulled a syringe out of his pocket, and plunged it into Jonathan's neck before anyone could stop him.

"Hey!" Jack yelled, aiming his gun at the teenager.

"What are you doing?!" Rose shrieked. She lunged at the kid, knocking the syringe out of his hand. But not before he had injected the whole of it into Jonathan's arm.

"Get away from him! What do you think you're doing?!" she yelled.

The young man looked at her with a mixture of pity and understanding.

"I can't explain to you right now," he said. "There's isn't time. Sorry. Just believe me when I say that this is in his best interests."

He leaped up, and began to punch buttons on the TARDIS.

"We need to get out of here."

The Doctor was up in a second, pushing the kid out of the way.

"Easy there! You could blow up the whole universe with those buttons."

The kid gave him an annoyed look.

"I've been flying this thing since I was a little. I think I know which buttons not to push."

"Look, kid, I've been flying this thing for _hundreds _of years, and she still does things I don't expect. So don't get cocky on me," the Doctor snapped.

The kid smirked.

"You always say that. Listen, the Mabinogians are waking up. We need to get out of here."

The Doctor looked at the kid for a moment, surprised. Then, he jerked his head and assent, and they both began to push buttons and pull levers. The column in the middle of the console lit up, and began to whirr. The TARDIS gave a shudder, and slid into the Void.

The Doctor drew away from the console, and stared at the teenager.

"Who _are_ you?" he asked.

Rose got shakily to her feet, and squinted at the kid's face.

"There's something familiar about you," she said. "Have we met before?"

The kid's mouth twisted up in an ironic smile.

"You could say that."

Rose continued to stare, taking several steps forward towards the kid. There was something so familiar about the twist of his smile, his warm hazel eyes, his loping grace despite his long legs and lanky limbs.

Rose drew back a little, the conclusion of her thoughts hitting her with full force.

"It can't be."

The kid smiled.

"Sorry to do this to you. But you understand that it's the only way, right?"

Rose reached out a tentative hand, and touched the young man's cheek.

"Jonathan?" she whispered.

"I mostly go by 'Jon', now," he said.

Rose stifled a sob with her hand.

Jon stepped forward, and hugged her.

"I'm sorry, Mum," he said. "I know this must be a shock to you."

"I don't understand," Martha said.

"Me either," Jack affirmed, his gun still trained on Jon.

The Doctor evaluated the young man, taking in his jeans and dark green shirt, his black Converse trainers, the earring dangling from his right ear, the familiar looking object strapped to his wrist.

"You're from the future," he stated.

Jon smiled.

"Yeah. Your future."

"You're _him_," Martha pointed to Jonathan's body, "from the future?"

"I know it's confusing," Jon said, waving his hand.

"Wibbly-wobbly," the Doctor murmured.

"Timey-wimey. Exactly!" Jon finished off. "I've been sent from the future to wake up my younger self."

"Aren't you creating some sort of paradox by doing that?" Rose asked. She was coming out of her shock, somewhat.

"Not really," Jon said. "You see, I'm doing this for him because someone did it to me. When I was him, someone came back in time and gave the formula to me. And you'll notice that I _didn't_ touch him at all. You've warned me enough times about doing that."

"What did you give him?" Martha asked, professional curiosity getting the better of her.

"It's a formula Dad invented. He's been working on it for most of my life, perfecting it and everything," Jon dug through his pockets, and produced a crumpled piece of paper, which he handed to the Doctor. "I'm meant to give you this."

The Doctor unfolded it, and raised an eyebrow.

"The formula?"

"The start of it. The rest is variable on the graviton fluxes it goes through during time travel, and can't be duplicated."

"How soon will Jonathan wake up?" Rose asked anxiously.

"A few minutes. But you can't touch him," Jon said quickly, and Rose rushed to Jonathan's side. Rose drew back.

"Why not?"

"Because. In order for the formula to work, it has to restart his hearts. Which as you know is a delicate process. It can't be interrupted."

"So you basically gave him a liquid deliberator?" Martha asked.

"Something like that," Jon grinned. "Never did pay too much attention when Dad was explaining it. After all, I already knew it was going to work, cuz here I am."

The Doctor frowned at that, and seemed to be on the verge of launching into a lecture about the fragility of the space-time continuum, when Rose interrupted.

"What about brain damage? He hasn't been breathing for at least ten minutes now."

Jon laughed.

"You swear there was some,"

The Doctor looked down at Jonathan's body.

"Will it hurt the formula if I repair the burn from the energy weapon?" he asked.

Jon shook his head, his shaggy hair falling into his eyes.

The Doctor knelt down, and carefully hovered the sonic screwdriver over the energy burns on Jonathan's small stomach. The weapon's energy pulse, which was enough to have stopped Jonathan's hearts, had left an angry burn on the skin of his stomach.

"I'm just using the dermal regenerator to repair the skin," the Doctor murmured, seeing the concern in Rose's eyes. "It wouldn't have restarted his hearts, but it _can_ repair minor disuse damange."

He snapped the sonic screwdriver off, and rose to his feet. Jonathan's skin was unbroken, but there was a stippled scar where the energy blast had ripped through him.

Jon pulled up his shirt, and displayed a similar scar on his abdomen.

"Tell him not to worry," Jon said, grinning slyly. "Chicks dig scars."

Jack choked back a laugh.

"How old are you, then?" the Captain asked.

"Eighteen," Jon replied. "It's been ten years since Dad came for Mum and me. It's been a wild ride, let me tell you. Growing up in a space ship. Good thing I'm fast on my feet, or I would never have been allowed to come on all those adventures." He turned to Rose. "Listen, Mum, before I forget. If _he_," with a jerk of his thumb towards Jonathan, "Totally wrecks the family room by blowing up the thingy he's working on, go easy on him, alright? It's not his fault it exploded, it was backfeed from the TARDIS's tertiary circuits."

Rose laughed helplessly.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Yeah, and while we're on the theme of forgiveness," Jon said, warming to his subject. "There's the small matter of the sonic toaster that I'd like to talk to you about. You see…"

A small noise behind him prevented Jon from continuing.

"Mmmmm…"

Jonathan was struggling to sit up.

Rose raced to his side, dropping to her knees to gather her son in her arms.

"Jonathan," she said, tears rushing to her eyes once again. "Jonathan, baby? Are you ok? Oh, Jonathan!"

"Muuuum, you're squishing me," Jonathan complained.

Everyone chuckled. Rose reluctantly let Jonathan go.

"Are you alright?" she asked him, gently brushing hair away from his forehead.

"Yeah," Jonathan said. "What happened? Did we get away from the space bugs?"

The Doctor knelt on the other side of Jonathan, and pulled him into his arms.

"Never do that to me again, you hear me?" he said, the tenderness of his eyes giving away the sternness of his voice.

Jonathan reached up, and wiped a tear off of Rose's cheek.

"Why are you crying, Mum?" he asked. "What happened?"

"You died," Jon said, his voice once again cutting through the others'.

Jonathan sized up this newcomer.

"You're me," he said simply.

Jon shrugged.

"Hit it on the nose, kid."

"How did you know?" Martha asked, surprised.

Jonathan shrugged, an identical lift of the shoulders to that of his older self.

"I just know."

"Smart kid," Jack murmured.

"You saved me?" Jonathan asked, his eyes still on Jon.

Jon nodded.

"Had to. If there's no you, there's no me. And I kind of like me," he shot a teasing wink at Martha, who almost blushed, to her surprise.

Jonathan was looking at his older counterpart.

"You have to stay away from me," he said. "We can't touch. Reapers, remember?"

Jon nodded again.  
"Yeah, I know. Listen, I've got to go soon, so I have some advice for you."

"No spoilers," the Doctor said severely.

Jon smiled.

"It's already happened, Dad. I'm going to tell him exactly what an older me told me when I was… him."

"That's confusing," Martha muttered.

"Wibbly-wobbly," Jon said, with another half-lift of his shoulders. Then, he turned to Jonathan. "Ok, so that Mohawk? Not a good idea. It may seem cool at the time, but it's just a disaster, trust me. There's just no way that turns out well. Also, there are planets where it's the ultimate insult. _That _was not a fun day. Oh, and forty-two."

"Forty-two?" Jonathan asked, sitting up but leaning against Rose for support. "What's forty-two mean?"

"It's the answer," Jon replied. "To life. The universe. Everything. Just keep it in mind, ok? And when you go to the planet Zimmer, don't let go of Adia's hand, understand?"

"Who's Adia?" Jonathan asked.

Jon shot a fugitive glance at Rose's middle, then continued.

"You'll see. Just don't let go of Adia on Zimmer. It's really important."

Jonathan nodded solemnly.

"I won't."

"Good."

Jon's watch beeped, and he glanced at it.

"That's my signal to get out of here. Mission accomplished, and my time's up."

Gently handing Jonathan off to the Doctor, Rose got to her feet, and hugged the tall teenager.

"Thank you for everything," she said.

Jon kissed her cheek.

"I love you, Mum," he said.

Rose smiled.

"I can't wait to meet you. Even if that earring is a little much," she said, letting it dangle over her finger.

Jon laughed.

"You've said that to me before. Goodbye Dad, Mum. Aunt Martha. Uncle Jack. See you round, kid."

"Bye," said Jonathan, with a little wave.

He pressed several buttons on the hand-held vortex manipulator strapped to his wrist, and disappeared, leaving the inhabitants of the TARDIS to stare after him.

_Author's Note: I actually had most of this chapter written last week. I was expecting to finish and post it then, but life always gets in the way. Raise your hands all those who have been ditched by their boyfriends… (raises hand). So this is the first day in a week that I've felt like writing anything. But I'm back, and hopefully ready to finish this story. _

_Thank you to all those who expressed concern for Jonathan. It's nice to know that there are people out there who love the kid as much as I do. And I totally loved some of your ideas for how to get him back! I especially loved yours, ArmoredSoul. I laughed so hard! Although I know regeneration a la Jenny was a favorite, I've actually been planning Jon since the conception of this idea. His was one of the first scenes I planned out when I decided to write this story. _

_It shouldn't take long for the final chapter to be written. Hopefully. If life doesn't get in the way again. _


	12. A Little Investigating

"Well, that was different," Rose said, flopping down on the orange comforter that covered the Doctor's bed.

The Doctor smiled, and lay down beside her, putting his arms behind his head.

"Welcome to life aboard the TARDIS. Past, present, future; they tend to get a bit mixed up when you live the way I do. Still want to come along?"

Rose laughed, and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I'll think about it. In the mean time, no more adventures. I just want to lie here for a while."

The Doctor buried his face in Rose's hair.

"Mmmm… yes," he murmured.

Rose laughed again.

"I guess Jack and Martha will be glad to get back to their lives again," she said, after a moment of comfortable silence.

The Doctor nodded, his cheek against Rose's head.

"Jack's got his little operation to run, and Martha…"

"Will be glad to get back to her boyfriend," Rose interrupted thoughtfully.

"Her _what_?" the Doctor sat up suddenly, dumping Rose onto the comforter.

"You mean you didn't catch all the hints she was dropping about having someone she wanted to get back to?" Rose asked incredulously.

"Martha has a _boyfriend_?" the Doctor's voice rose an octave.

Rose raised an eyebrow.

"You didn't think she'd hang around waiting for you, did you? I hate to break it to you, Casanova, but you're not_ impossible_ to get over. I never managed it, but Martha might."

"Hmph."

The Doctor lay back onto the pillows, and Rose fitted herself comfortably back into his arms.

"I think it's great," she said. "'S not good to pine and pine after someone you can't have. You only break your heart. I ought to know."

The Doctor pulled Rose close.

"Did you date anyone, Rose? You know, while you were in the other universe. I won't be upset if you say you did. You thought you were never going to see me again."

"I tried to," Rose admitted. "I tried to get over you. But after a few dates, every bloke just sort of drifted off and didn`t come back. Knew my heart wasn't in it. I was still in love with Jonathan's father."

The Doctor dropped a kiss on Rose's nose.

"Have I told you lately how sorry I am that I couldn't get to you?"

Rose smiled.

"Yes. But tell me again."

The Doctor kissed Rose's cheek, her forehead, her nose, and then finally her upturned mouth.

"I'm sorry, Rose. I tried everything I could think of that wouldn't tear the universe apart. And even then, it might have been worth it to see you one more time."

Rose gave a small sob that turned into a laugh.

"I love you," the Doctor said, with a gentle smile that was reserved just for her.

"I know," Rose replied.

The grumbling of Rose's stomach broke the tender moment between them. Rose blushed to the roots of her hair as the Doctor roared with laughter.

"Hungry?" he asked, when he had finally recovered himself.

Rose scowled at him.

"'S not my fault there's no food in this box! I can't remember when I ate last. I`m _starving_."

The Doctor rolled off the bed, and offered his hands to Rose. She took them, rising off the bed and into his arms again.

"Well, we can't have this," the Doctor said. "Can't have people accusing me of not feeding my family. What do you say to finding some chips?"

Rose laughed.

"Now you're talking my language, Spaceman. Let's go find Jonathan."

------

Jonathan was in the media room, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of a huge television set, leaning his back against the foot of the sofa.

"You shouldn't sit so close to the telly," Rose said, walking into the room. "It'll ruin your eyes."

Jonathan sighed, and sat up on the sofa.

"It's better from down there," he said.

"Weeeeeell," the Doctor cut in. "This is a special telly. It's specially formatted not to hurt your eyes."

Rose crossed her arms, and frowned at the Doctor, but he didn't seem to notice.

"What're you watching?" he asked, plopping down beside his son.

Jonathan shrugged.

"Just some dumb cop show. There was nothing else on."

"Thousands of channels from thousands of different times and worlds and nothing was on?" Rose asked under her breath.

"Oooh… CSI Mars!" the Doctor said enthusiastically.

"CSI Mars?"

"Sure. It's the 10th spin off. Same premise as the other ones, but on the Mars Colony in 2100. Aliens and forensics, great combination!"

Rose rolled her eyes.

"Don't they ever put anything new on telly?"

"Nope," the Doctor said. He grabbed the remote, and changed the channel.

"Hey Jonathan," Rose said. "Dad thinks we should go get some chips."

Jonathan turned towards her sharply, his small face lit up.

"Yeah!" he said, bouncing up from the couch. He had inherited his mother's love of the greasy Earth specialty.

"Just a mo'," the Doctor said. He turned up the volume on a newscast he had just flipped to. Jonathan sat back down on the sofa, and Rose beside him.

_"In the news this hour – Britain's new Prime Minister gives her inaugural speech. But first: a follow up on our story of two days ago. The children who two days ago went missing simultaneously from all over the globe have now simultaneously reappeared. At exactly 3:32 this morning, all the children taken reappeared from the locations they had disappeared from. None of the children have any memory of what happened to them for the past forty-eight hours. Investigators continue to look into the matter, but remain baffled as to the reason either for the children's vanishing, or their subsequent reappearance. More stories ahead after the break." _

The Doctor turned to Jonathan with a grin.

"So they all got back safe. Well, that's a relief, I must say. Well done, Jonathan."

Jonathan grinned back.

Rose shook her head disapprovingly.

"You shouldn't encourage him."

"Come on, Rose," the Doctor pouted. "It's the family business after all."

Rose opened her mouth to say something, but the commercial playing caught her attention.

"Two pills a day and the fat just walks away!" said the announcer.

A slim woman in a yellow jogging outfit appeared on the screen.

"I used to be two hundred pounds, and now look at me!" she said, indicating the left hand corner of the screen, where a 'before' picture was displayed.

"It really works," said a man, as the picture flicked to him.

"I thought nothing would help me, but this has been a miracle," said another woman, her arms spread wide in happiness. "I lost twelve pounds in twelve days!"

"Adipose. Two pills a day and the fat just walks away!" said the announcer again.

Rose snorted, and shut the television off.

"Yeah right," she said skeptically. "Everyone always wants a quick solution."

The Doctor looked thoughtfully at the blank screen.

"Twelve pounds in twelve days. That doesn't sound healthy, does it?"

"It just an advert," said Rose with a shrug. "They all say stuff like that,"

"But those people were telling the truth. I could tell."

"How could you tell?" Rose asked.

"Superior Time Lord senses," the Doctor replied. "That, and they were looking to the right, and not to the left. When people lie, they generally look down and to the left."

"Those pills actually work?" Rose asked.

"So it seems," the Doctor said, looking thoughtful again. Then, he glanced up at Rose with his trademark grin spreading over his face.

"Rose," he said. "How would you feel about a little investigating?"

_Author`s Note: Well, it`s over. The end of a story is always both happy and sad – happy that it's finished, sad that it`s over. Jonathan just sort of showed up one day a couple of years ago and demanded to be written. It`s strange to think that after all that time, I`ve finally written all the stories I had for him at the beginning. This story has been sitting around unfinished for so long that it`s something of a triumph to have finally finished it. Thank you so much to everyone who stuck with me through all the long delays and cliffhangers, and to everyone who reviewed. You guys are all gems, as my little brother would say. _

_And as for more Jonathan stories… well, who knows? :-) _


End file.
